TREASURY

Departmental Electricity Use

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much (a) his Department and (b) agencies of the Department spent on electricity use in each year from 1997 to date.

Ruth Kelly: Available information is set out as follows.
	HM Customs and Excise, Inland Revenue and Valuation Office Agency
	Since 2001–02, the estate has been managed under the STEPS contract:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 2001–02 9,500,000 
			 2002–03 11,889,000 
			 2003–04 12,062,000 
		
	
	Information for earlier years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	Office for National Statistics
	Information is only held from 1998.
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1997–98 Not available 
			 1998–99 675,000 
			 1999–2000 673,000 
			 2000–01 533,000 
			 2001–02 613,000 
			 2002–03 536,000 
			 2003–04 633,000 
		
	
	
		Royal Mint
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1997–98 1,376,000 
			 1998–99 1,403,000 
			 1999–2000 1,658,000 
			 2000–01 1,363,000 
			 2001–02 1,158,000 
			 2002–03 950,000 
			 2003–04 1,071,000 
		
	
	
		Debt Management Office
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1997–98 Not available 
			 1998–99 8,000 
			 1999–2000 10,000 
			 2000–01 10,000 
			 2001–02 11,000 
			 2002–03 13,000 
			 2003–04 48,000 
		
	
	National Savings & Investments
	NS&I are minor occupiers of Inland Revenue buildings and are charged quarterly for utilities. Disaggregated data on electricity consumption is not available.
	Government Actuary's Department
	Since July 2003 £31,000 has been spent on electricity. Information for earlier years is not available.
	Office of Government Commerce
	OGC came into being in 2000 and OGC Buying Solutions was established in 2001:
	
		£
		
			  OGC OGCBS Total 
		
		
			 2000–01 164,986.00 — 165,000 
			 2001–02 196,693.00 9,500.00 206,000 
			 2002–03 180,688.00 9,100.00 190,000 
			 2003–04 188,719.00 9,000.00 198,000 
		
	
	
		HM Treasury
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1997–98 221,000 
			 1998–99 218,000 
			 1999–2000 257,000 
			 2000–01 161,000 
			 2001–02 134,000 
			 2002–03 288,000

Departmental Sustainable Development Impacts

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what have been identified as the most significant sustainable development impacts in relation to the operation of his Department's estate.

John Healey: Energy and water consumption, waste, travel and procurement.

Departmental Water Use

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much (a) his Department and (b) agencies of the Department spent on water and sewerage services in each year since 1997.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested is given in the following table:
	
		
			  IR/HMCE + VOA HMT OGC ONS GAD Royal Mint 
		
		
			 1997–98 (1)— 51,646 — (2)— (3)— 187,497 
			 1998–99 (1)— 56,232 — 75,270 (3)— 187,027 
			 1999–2000 (1)— 44,448 — 83,301 (3)— 166,210 
			 2000–01 (1)— 35,724 33,688 118,561 (3)— 152,177 
			 2001–02 (1)— 43,523 24,245 124,808 (3)— 153,464 
			 2002–03 1,719,594 14,839 19,754 100,197 (3)— 136,356 
			 2003–04 2,489,589 19,389 11,785 101,263 (3)— 161,511 
		
	
	(1)The information for years 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01 and 2001–02 is not available to us and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	(2)No records for 1997–98
	(3)Information included within IR figures for 1997 to October 1999 and HMCE from October1999 to July 2003. No information on charges for the period from July 2003.
	All values given are in £s.

Income Tax (Pensioners)

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost to public funds of exempting all pensioners from income tax for the first £10,000 of their earnings; and how many individual (a) pensioners and (b) pensioner households this would benefit.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) on 20 May 2004, Official Report, column 1200W.

Inland Revenue Annual Report

Howard Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what main categories of expenditure are contained within other miscellaneous expenditure shown in the Inland Revenue Annual Report for the year 2002–03 on page 69 at table 3; and what the main reasons are for the increase in this figure between 2001–02 and 2002–03.

Dawn Primarolo: The main categories of expenditure contained within the other miscellaneous expenditure item are as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			  2002–03 2002–01 Main cause for increase 
		
		
			 Legal Costs 25.0 22.1 — 
			 Consultancy 48.4 31.0 Additional expenditure in development of E Business; and to progress the Aspire project to procure an IT service partner, from July 2004, following the end of the contract with EDS. 
			 Contracted Out Services 16.5 18.1 — 
			 Publicity 25.1 12.5 Increased level of spending especially to publicise New Tax Credits and use of the internet for filing tax returns. 
			 Post Office Charges 16.5 10.3 Increased payment to the Post Office, particularly in set up costs for the Post Office Card Account (POCA) which is now being used as a method of payment for child benefit and new tax credits. 
			 Losses 20.2 7.4 £16.6 million of recoverable VAT was reported as a loss when it was not recovered within the prescribed 30 day time limit. This amount is included in HM Customs and Excise Trust Statement as VAT receipt, so the net cost to Government is nil. 
			 Special Payments 28.8 7.8 Compensation to pension providers arising from delayed payment of Age Related Rebates, caused by difficulties with the National Insurance Recording System 2. 
			 Valuation Office Agency 23.6 23.6 — 
			 Miscellaneous 15.3 16.5 — 
			 Total 219.4 149.3 —

Pension Contributions (Tax Relief)

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the Exchequer of tax relief on pension contributions (a) in each year since 1997 and (b) in each of the next five years in the light of the revised Office for National Statistics figures for pension contributions published on 30 June.

Dawn Primarolo: Available estimates of tax relief on private pensions are contained in table 7.9 of Inland Revenue Statistics. The latest version is on the Inland Revenue website; http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/pensions/table7 9.pdf.
	These estimates are due to be updated in September 2004.

Tax Credit Overpayments

Harold Best: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the financial difficulties faced by (a) working tax credit and (b) child tax credit claimants as a result of overpayments made during 2003–04; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will introduce an amnesty for claimants who received overpayments of tax credits in the year 2003–04 as a result of the administrative problems experienced by the Inland Revenue.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Northavon (Mr. Webb) on 9 March 2004, Official Report, column 1482W.

DEFENCE

Aircraft Crash Guidelines

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether after a crash involving a Ministry of Defence aircraft there are established procedures or guidelines for deciding whether other aircraft of the same type should be grounded.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 13 July 2004
	JSP551, vol. 1 section 205 annex c lays down the responsibility on Boards of Inquiry to report immediately hazards to flight safety to the Convening Authority, who will also be the Aircraft Operating Authority, and will have the authority to ground the aircraft if it is deemed necessary.

Bosnian War Crimes

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the role of British forces in locating Bosnian war-crime suspects, with particular reference to (a) Radovan Karadzic and (b) General Ratko Mladic.

Denis MacShane: I have been asked to reply.
	The UK remains fully committed to bringing Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic to trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia. Their continued presence at large is an obstacle to justice and reconciliation, and to the region's political and economic development.
	UK troops have been involved in the detention of 21 indictees, of the total of 46 apprehended by NATO SFOR. The UK Government remains committed to diplomatic, political and operational efforts to bring about the detention and transfer to The Hague of all fugitive indictees.

Chinook Helicopter

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the contract to upgrade the Chinook Mark I helicopters to the Mark II version included the removal of the Mark I wiring loom mounting points.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 12 July 2004
	A review of the contract documentation has revealed no specific reference to the removal of Mark I wiring loom mounting points; it would be unusual for a contract of this scale to specifically mention the removal of individual wiring loom mounting points.

Flight Trials (Service Deviation)

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the purpose is of a Service Deviation in flight trials.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 12 July 2004
	Trials, development and Operational Evaluation Unit procedures for the three services currently involve operation of service aircraft under the authority of Service Deviations. The purpose of a Service Deviation is to detail any particular flying limitations, conditions of use or equipment fit applicable to the scope of flying activity it is intended to cover.

Flight ZD576

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which (a) people and (b) organisations have examined the wreckage of flight ZD576 since it has been stored at Fleetlands; and for what reasons.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 13 July 2004
	The wreckage of flight ZD576 is held in secure storage at DARA Fleetlands, Hampshire. Since it has been in storage there, no individual or organisation has sought permission to access the wreckage.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he will reply to the questions tabled by the hon. Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr on 1 March, references (a) 158877, (b) 158884, (c) 158885, (d) 158854 and (e) 158862.

Adam Ingram: I replied to the hon. Member as follows:
	(a) 158877—18 June 2004, Official Report, column 1139W;
	(b) 158884—17 June 2004, Official Report, columns 1069–70W;
	(c) 158885—17 June 2004, Official Report, column 1070W;
	(d) 158854—6 July 2004, Official Report, column 643W;
	(e) 158862—17 June 2004, Official Report, column 1070W.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British service personnel have been based at Combined Joint Task Force headquarters in Baghdad, now renamed, since 1 May; and if he will give the (a) rank and (b) function of each individual.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 12 July 2004
	Currently the United Kingdom has 30 staff officers employed between the Multi National Force (MNF) and Multi National Corps (MNC) Headquarters (these were previously known as the Combined Joint Task Force Headquarters). The UK contributes a variety of staff and command functions including a Lieutenant General in the role of Deputy Commanding General Operations and a Major General as Deputy Commanding General MNC. The UK also provides Brigadiers in the roles of Deputy Commanding General Strategy and Military Policy MNF and in the senior appointments within the military and police training teams.
	In addition, the UK contributes staff officers to the logistics support, media, security, and strategic operations and plans functions within both MNF and MNC. Small teams of outer office administrators and drivers also support the UK contribution to the MNF and MNC Headquarters in Baghdad.

Iraq

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in how many cases involving (a) the killing and (b) the serious wounding of Iraqi civilians the local commander decided not to institute an investigation, broken down by unit.

Adam Ingram: Information on the number of cases where the commanding officer decided not to institute an investigation is not currently available though it is now being collated from unit records. This exercise is likely to take some time.

Royal Navy Ships (Security)

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment has been made of the need for the protection of Royal Naval ships from (a) fast attack boats and (b) suicide attacks.

Adam Ingram: Detailed classified guidance on countering these threats has been issued to all Royal Navy and RFA vessels. This guidance is under continual review in the light of the lessons learnt during Op TELIC and developments elsewhere.
	The Royal Navy's capability to counter fast attack boats and suicide attacks has been enhanced by a range of measures including additional training for ships' crews, the provision of extra close range weaponry, the fitting of night vision equipment in maritime Lynx and, when necessary, the deployment of Royal Marine Protection Teams on Royal Fleet Auxiliaries. Further measures are also under consideration.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Animal Medicines

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with Ministers in the Department of Trade and Industry on proposed rules on prescription-only medicines for animals.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 12 July 2004
	My officials from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate have been in regular contact with DTI officials on the rules for prescription-only medicines for animals following the publication of the Competition Commission Report on the Supply of Prescription-Only Veterinary Medicines. They have attended DTI ministerial meetings with the RCVS and BVA as part of the continuing consultations between Government and the veterinary profession on the implementation of the Competition Commission's recommendations.

Combined Heat and Power

Tony Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how the Government intend to incentivise combined heat and power (CHP) under the next phase of the Energy Efficiency Commitment, as mentioned in the CHP Strategy;
	(2)  what measures the Government propose to encourage the take-up of combined heat and power (CHP) under the current Building Regulations revision, as mentioned in the CHP Strategy.

Elliot Morley: Incentivising CHP under the next phase of the Energy Efficiency Commitment and encouraging the take-up of CHP under the current Building Regulations revision were both included in the support measures set out in "The Government's Strategy for CHP to 2010", which we published on 26 April of this year. Proposals on the Energy Efficiency Commitment from April 2005 are currently out for consultation and Building Regulations proposals will shortly be published for consultation.

Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much she estimates the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 has cost landowners.

Alun Michael: There is no obligation on landowners to incur any expenditure in respect of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. Landowners will incur costs if they make use of the appeals and restrictions system, but there is no charge for using these systems which have been kept as simple as possible.
	Local highway authorities and National Park authorities, in their capacity as access authorities under the Act, have powers to enable and manage open access in their areas and will be responsible for putting in place infrastructure such as signage, footbridges and gates. We hope that landowners and managers will work closely with them to ensure the new right is implemented in a way which benefits the public without adversely affecting the management of the land. In order to facilitate this the Countryside Agency is supporting a series of half-day briefing sessions, open to all landowners and land managers, organised by the Country Land and Business Association and supported by the National Farmers' Union and the Moorland Association. At the briefings, landowners and land managers receive free advice on liabilities, the restrictions system and land management practice.

Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total cost was of the consultation, mapping and appeals and other associated costs of the implementation of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.

Alun Michael: Defra is funding the Countryside Agency, National Park Authorities and the Planning Inspectorate to implement Part I of the Act. To the end of May 2004 the Countryside Agency had spent £30.19 million. The Agency expects to spend a further £14.9 million in the current financial year. National Park Authorities have been allocated an additional £4.725 million since 2002–03, including £1.85 million for the current financial year. The Planning Inspectorate has received £2.15 million over the last three financial years to deal with appeals against the inclusion of land on provisional maps and restriction appeals. It expects to spend no more than £2 million in the current financial year. Local authorities have been funded to establish local access forums under Part V of the Act.
	Further, I have announced funding of £2 million for 2004–05 towards an access management grant scheme to support local authorities in implementing the new right of access. The scheme runs to the end of March 2005 and I will be considering whether to extend it in the light of its success this year and in the context of Defra's future spending priorities.

Egg Production

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many eggs were produced in England, broken down by (a) type and (b) production method in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement.

Alun Michael: The following table provides a breakdown of UK egg production by use, grade and production method. In order to preserve the confidentiality of survey respondents this information is not separately available at the England level.
	
		UK hen eggs -- (million dozen)
		
			  1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Total production 884 873 877 902 904 850 855 917 972 992 
			
			 of which:   
			 For human consumption 787 774 775 794 792 743 747 806 858 879 
			 For hatching 85 87 91 95 96 93 95 96 95 97 
			 Hatching for export 3 4 3 4 7 5 5 6 10 7 
			 Waste 9 9 8 8 9 8 9 9 9 9 
			
			 Human consumption by grade   
			 Very large (4)— (4)— 52 39 36 36 38 43 41 46 
			 Large (4)— (4)— 283 276 293 285 290 320 328 363 
			 Medium (4)— (4)— 304 325 318 293 281 305 318 319 
			 Small (4)— (4)— 49 51 41 36 36 39 42 37 
			 Seconds (4)— (4)— 54 63 64 59 66 68 68 68 
			 Ungraded (farmhouse consumption and direct from producer to egg processor) (4)— (4)— 34 40 39 35 34 31 62 45 
			
			 Human consumption by production method   
			 Laying cages 673 668 664 667 644 578 556 578 595 606 
			 Free range 84 83 88 102 115 122 148 184 210 220 
			 Barn 30 23 23 26 33 43 44 44 53 53 
		
	
	(4) Not available.
	It should be noted that the surveys used to generate these statistics are currently undergoing a methodological review and the estimates for more recent years are liable to amendment as a direct result of any findings.

EU Environment Council

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the matters (a) discussed and (b) decided at the European Environment Ministers Council on 28 and 29 June; what votes were taken; how the UK voted in each case; and if she will place in the Library copies of papers (i) tabled by the UK and (ii) which have implications for United Kingdom policies.

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the outcome was of the Environment Council on 28 to 29 June; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: I attended the Environment Council on 28 June 2004, together with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
	The Council reached political agreement on two proposals. The first was an amendment to the Directive concerning the sulphur content of marine fuels, which is intended to lead to a significant reduction in sulphur dioxide emissions from ships operating within member states' waters. The text as adopted would fulfil the obligations of the UK (and other member states) under the recently ratified International Maritime Organisation rules relating to sulphur oxide emission control areas and also includes provision for the use of approved abatement technologies as an alternative to low-sulphur fuel. The proposal was adopted by qualified majority, with UK support.
	Council also reached political agreement on a revised bathing water directive, with unanimous support. The proposal sets standards for the monitoring and classification of bathing waters. It incorporates a new category of bathing water ('satisfactory/acceptable'), and flexible management arrangements including discounting of samples taken during short-term contamination incidents, within certain limits.
	We also discussed a proposed regulation on shipments of waste. Agreement was not reached at this Council, because one member state maintained a general scrutiny reserve, and unanimity was required in the face of a Commission disagreement as Council decided to change the proposed legal base to Article 175. The proposal updates an existing Regulation to reflect revisions to the Basel Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous waste and their disposal and the relevant OECD decision. Twenty-four member states, including the UK, were able to support the proposal. The dossier will be considered further in COREPER with a view to adoption at a future Council. Council adopted Conclusions relating to the Commission communication "Towards a thematic strategy on the prevention and recycling of waste". These were wide-ranging, and included encouragement to the Commission to develop this thematic strategy in tandem with its work on the use of natural resources and integrated product policy.
	We held a policy debate on various aspects of the proposed Regulation on registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals (REACH). As requested by the Presidency, the UK made only a short intervention, providing further comments in a written paper, a copy of which will be placed in the Library. The Presidency drew the conclusion that work should continue in the ad hoc working group.
	Council was asked to agree a decision concerning the placing on the market of a maize product (Zea mays L. line NK603), genetically modified for glyphosate intolerance. The UK supported the Decision, but no qualified majority was attained to either support or reject the proposal.In the absence of a Council decision, the Commission will be able to adopt its proposal.
	Council was briefed by the Presidency on the outcome of conferences on biodiversity held in Killarney and Malahide, and a further set of Conclusions was adopted on halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010. The UK was among a group of member states that successfully pressed for additional points on illegal logging, emphasising the need for urgent action to eliminate imports of illegally harvested timber as a contribution to halting biodiversity loss. Council also discussed the importance of effective financial arrangements to support the Natura 2000 network as an important contribution towards achieving global and regional biodiversity protection. We looked forward to debating the Commission's expected communication on financing Natura 2000.
	A further policy debate was held, on the proposed Directive on managing waste from the extractive industries. Again, the UK provided a written submission, a copy of which will be placed in the Library.
	A number of short information points were raised under Any Other Business. There was also an appeal by Germany, supported by several others, for an early proposal for new Euro V standards with a view to reducing particulate emissions from diesel cars.

Rats

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information she collects in respect of moneys expended by sewerage undertakers to control rat populations; and what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of sewerage undertakers in regard to control of such populations.

Elliot Morley: The Department does not collect information on moneys expended by sewerage undertakers to control rat populations.
	Late last year, my Department sought the views of all chief executives of local authorities in England and Wales on how well the liaison arrangements between water companies and local authorities are working in relation to sewer baiting for rats. The level of response was disappointing. The results of that review and a more recent and comprehensive report by the CSL (Central Scientific Laboratory) on the presence of rodents in domestic dwellings will be considered by the Rats in Sewers Working Group.

Red Squirrels

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the change in the red squirrel population over the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: No assessment has been made in the changes to red squirrel population over the last five years. However, within England, significant populations of the red squirrel are still found in the north-west and north-east, the Isle of Wight and the islands in Poole Harbour. The population in Thetford Forest remains in a precarious position, with no recent sightings there.
	Little can be said about changes in numbers at any of these sites as the species is very difficult and costly to monitor at this level of detail. We hope that the recently-formed Tracking Mammals Partnership will make some progress with developing integrated monitoring methods for this challenging species.
	On the positive side, the red squirrel seems to have made some small gains in the Yorkshire Dales, where it has been able to expand into plantations that are now maturing and producing good crops of the pine cones that it needs.
	On the negative side, the grey squirrel continues to expand its range and threaten red squirrel populations, with the species now appearing in the west of Northumberland, where it is moving up the Tyne valley, and more northern parts of Cumbria, where it has moved north of Thirlmere and is now appearing around Keswick.
	The continuing expansion of the grey squirrel is to be expected and red squirrel conservation is focused on limiting that expansion in areas where the two species overlap. Some significant progress has been made in developing more effective and targeted ways of defending healthy populations of red squirrels against replacement by the grey squirrel.
	The UK red squirrel Biodiversity Action Plan Steering Group has identified those areas of the UK where action to maintain red squirrels is most likely to be effective in the long term. In northern England, these priorities have now been translated into management plans for key forest areas, where we believe a combination of large-scale habitat management in forests and buffer areas allied to surveillance and targeted grey squirrel control gives the red squirrel the best chance of survival.
	These plans will form the basis of a bid for Heritage Lottery funding within the next few months by a consortium of government agencies, wildlife trusts and private landowners.
	Elsewhere in England, a red squirrel strategy for the Isle of Wight has recently been published. Work on improving the island's woodlands and hedgerows for the red squirrel has been continuing, funded by the Forestry Commission and the HLF, and a recent survey found signs of red squirrels in 86 per cent. of the woodlands, an improvement over the 71 per cent. found in 1996–97. The populations on the islands in Poole Harbour (Brownsea, Furzey) are also important and a joint management plan to ensure their survival here will soon be developed.

Rural Payments Agency

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what new technology has been introduced by the Rural Payments Agency since its formation.

Alun Michael: The following new technology has been introduced by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) since its formation in October 2001.
	1. Applications
	A new integrated Human Resources and Finance system using the Oracle E-Business Suite was introduced in October 2003 and subsequently upgraded to the latest versions of the Oracle applications and database in February 2004.
	Online internet based systems have been implemented for the electronic transfer of information from abattoirs directly into RPA systems and electronic links between HM Customs and Excise have been established for exchange of import and export licence data.
	The e-IACS system was enhanced to provide customers with an off-line web based solution to submit Integrated Administration Control Systems (IACS) claim forms electronically. This went live in March 2003.
	In June 2003 an improved Intranet system was introduced together with devolved content management facilities supported by a Knowledge Management network of staff throughout RPA. This has quickly become a key business tool throughout RPA.
	Combined Bovine Risk Assessment was introduced in August 2002 allowing Inspectors to use laptops on customer premises to complete bovine inspections.
	Other specialist corporate systems have been introduced, specifically an intelligence support systems for the RPA Counter Fraud and Compliance Unit based on Memex software and a case management system for RPA's Internal Audit group based on Galilio software—both introduced during 2003.
	2. Infrastructure
	A secondary data centre has been established to provide disaster recovery (DR) protection. New high end servers use modern technology with centralised data storage and dedicated high speed telecommunications links between the primary and DR sites.
	Enterprise disk storage array systems have been introduced for economies of scale and administrative efficiency. These provide approximately 20 terabytes of disk space at each of the data centres.
	Over 3,000 new and upgraded desktop computers have been deployed throughout the RPA offices with access to centrally managed Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Servers supporting Microsoft Exchange for email.
	A new communications network service has been installed linking the five main RPA sites and providing flexible bandwidth on demand to support data and telephone communications.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Business Link

Dan Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many small businesses have been helped by Business Link in (a) Bath and North East Somerset and (b) Wansdyke constituency in each year since 2001.

Nigel Griffiths: Since 2001 business support to enterprises in Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) and Wansdyke constituency has been provided by Business West, one of a national network of 45 Business Link Operators.
	The year on year breakdown is made up of enterprises unique to that year, as follows:
	
		
			  BANES Wansdyke 
		
		
			 2001 1,127 352 
			 2002 1,548 486 
			 2003 1,801 585 
			 2004 (January to June) 1,184 363

Consumer Protection (Budget Airlines)

Huw Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received from representatives of independent tour operators about the financial protection for consumers who book accommodation through websites related to budget airlines; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Officials and I, have received several representations from the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO), from AITO members, and from the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) representing, among others, their independent tour operator members. AITO and ABTA joined me at a meeting I held with representatives from the package travel industry in March at which extending financial protection for holidaymakers and travellers was discussed. Both organisations are in frequent contact and attend regular meetings with officials on this and other matters. I am, therefore, very aware of AITO and ABTA members' views on this issue as we await the Civil Aviation Authority's final recommendations to Government on extending protection.

Post Office

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  how many (a) post offices and (b) sub-post offices in London have been (i) closed and (ii) subject to formal consultation prior to closure since 31 March;
	(2)  how many post offices and sub-post offices in London subject to formal consultation pending closure since 31 March have subsequently been reprieved.

Stephen Timms: These are operational matters for Post Office Ltd. and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Post Office Urban Reinvention Programme

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many Business Transaction Hours (BTH) were allocated to individual post offices which have closed under the Urban Reinvention programme in the Wakefield area, broken down by post office; and how many BTHs have been allocated to each post office receiving the business from closed post offices.

Stephen Timms: These are operational matters for Post Office Ltd. and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Statutory Paternity Pay

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 1 July 2004, Official Report, column 400W, on statutory paternity pay, 
	(1)  if she will place the information her Department receives in the Library;
	(2)  if she will place in the Library the initial information on the take-up of statutory paternity pay that the Inland Revenue has provided to other Government Departments.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 13 July 2004
	The information will be deposited in the Libraries of the House.

Working Time Masterclasses

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funds she has allocated to the nine masterclasses to reduce the working time of employees organised by her Department.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 13 July 2004
	A strategic partnership project on long hours working has been set up with the CBI and TUC to identify practical ways of implementing change management practices in the workplace. This is to help those organisations who are looking for ways to maximise or maintain productivity levels while moving away from routinely relying on employees working long hours.
	A series of nine masterclasses will be held at various regional locations between July 2004 and March 2005. 'Business champions' who have been successful at managing such change will share their learning outcomes with small groups of relevant organisations, promoting discussion and the formation of action plans. There will be no charge to participants. Each of the case studies will be written into a final report as a way of disseminating the project's outputs to a wider audience.
	The EOC is managing the project, and have a budget of approximately £70,000 from the DTI's strategic partnership initiative.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

European Constitutional Treaty

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will list the measures adopted under Title IV of the Treaty establishing the European Community within his Department's areas of responsibility which the UK has notified its intention to participate in.

Christopher Leslie: The measures adopted under Title IV which fall within the responsibility of my Department which the UK has notified its intention to participate in are:
	Council Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000 of 29 May 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgements in matrimonial matters and in matters of parental responsibility for children of both spouses.
	Council Regulation (EC) No 1346/2000 of 29 May 2000 on insolvency proceedings.
	Council Regulation (EC) No 1348/2000 of 29 May 2000 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters.
	Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial matters.
	Council Regulation (EC) No 1206/2001 of 28 May 2001 on co-operation between the courts of the Member States in the taking of evidence in civil and commercial matters.
	Council Regulation (EC) No 2001/470/EC of 28 May 2001 establishing a European Judicial Network in civil and commercial matters.
	Council Regulation (EC) No 743/2002 of 25 April 2002 establishing a general Community framework of activities to facilitate the implementation of judicial co-operation in civil matters.
	Council Regulation (EC) No 2002/8/EC of 27 January 2003 to improve access to justice in cross-border disputes by establishing minimum common rules relating to legal aid for such disputes.
	Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 of 27 November 2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgements in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility , repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000.
	Regulation (EC) No 805/2004 if the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 creating a European Enforcement Order for uncontested claims.

Legal Aid

Martin Smyth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the Department's policy is on the granting of legal aid to those who have dismissed their legal team.

Christopher Leslie: Any grant of legal aid, whether civil or criminal, is made to an individual's solicitor or solicitors' firm and, as appropriate, assigned counsel. Where an individual dismisses their legal team, and assigns a new legal team, they must re-apply for legal aid (either through the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission for civil legal aid, or through the court for criminal legal aid).
	If the individual does not assign a new legal team, legal aid cannot be granted.

Neighbourly Quarrels

Martin Smyth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what record is kept by the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission of regular users of the scheme in pursuing neighbourly quarrels.

Christopher Leslie: The Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission does not keep any specific record of regular users of the civil legal aid scheme in pursuing disputes between neighbours.

Privy Council (Accounts)

Richard Bacon: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs who the Finance Director for the Privy Council is; what accountancy qualifications the Director holds; and in which of the last five years there has been a qualified opinion on (a) the resource accounts and (b) other accounts of the Privy Council.

Christopher Leslie: The Finance Director is the Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council, who is a Chartered Secretary. In view of the very small size of the Department it has been agreed with the Treasury and the National Audit Office that specialist accountancy advice is provided through a consultancy arrangement with a qualified accountant. The Department's resource accounts were qualified in 2002–03 owing to a very small amount of resource expenditure (£9,000) in excess of voted provision. The excess expenditure was due to factors outside the Department's control, which are explained in the resource accounts for that year.

Voting Age

Brian Cotter: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if the Government will bring forward proposals to enfranchise 16 and 17-year-olds in the near future.

Christopher Leslie: The Government are currently considering the independent Electoral Commission's 'Age of electoral majority' report, which makes recommendations on the minimum age of voting and candidacy in elections.
	The Government will not rush their consideration of the recommendations, given the importance of the issues at hand.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Departmental Accountancy Practice

Richard Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who the Finance Director of the Department is; what accountancy qualifications the Director holds; and on how many occasions there has been a qualified opinion on (a) the resource accounts and (b) other accounts of the Department in the last five years.

Richard Caborn: The designated Finance Director in DCMS is Nicholas Kroll. Mr. Kroll is the Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Permanent Secretary. His responsibilities also include human resources, accommodation, information technology and economic, statistical and other analytical services. Mr. Kroll has no accounting qualifications; however, he is supported by a Head of Accounting Profession and nine other accountants within the Department's Finance and Planning Division.
	Since 1999–2000, the DCMS's appropriation and resource accounts have been qualified on one occasion only, in 2001–02. This was a technical qualification of the resource accounts arising out of the timing of the initiation and authorisation at the end of March 2002 of cash payments for payment in April 2002, which resulted in the Department exceeding its net cash requirement. The Department remained within approved resource limits during the same accounting period.
	Information for 2003–04 is not yet available as the audit of the 2003–04 resource accounts has only recently begun.

Edgeworth Cricket Club

Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the schemes in the North West region, approved by Sport England, which are now classed as deferred; and when she expects funding to be available for the new clubhouse and pavilion for the Edgeworth Cricket Club.

Richard Caborn: The following 12 projects in the North West region were deferred during Sport England's stocktake of its Lottery-funded programmes:
	
		
			 Applicant Project 
		
		
			 Astley Sports College Four-court sports hall 
			 Buersil Park Bowling Club Rebuilding pavilion 
			 Carlisle Rugby Union Club Clubhouse extension, all weather training pitch and floodlights 
			 Community TOP Ltd Trampolining centre 
			 Edgeworth Cricket Club New pavilion 
			 Egremont Rugby Union Club New pavilion and multi-use games area 
			 Fylde Borough Council Skate park 
			 Liverpool Sailing Club New clubhouse 
			 New Brighton Cricket Club New practice facilities 
			 Rochdale Judo Club Extension of facilities 
			 Silverdale Cricket Club New pavilion 
			 Waterloo Judo Club New clubhouse 
		
	
	Of these, Silverdale Cricket Club has since formally withdrawn its application having secured funding elsewhere.
	The remaining 11 deferred projects, including Edgeworth Cricket Club, will be considered by the newly established North West Regional Sports Board in September 2004.

National Foundation for Sport

Debra Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the (a) correspondence and (b) meetings she has had with the food and drink industry in relation to plans for a national foundation for sport.

Richard Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had (a) no correspondence and (b) no meetings with the food and drink industry, in relation to plans for a National Sports Foundation.
	I refer my hon. Friend to the Spending Review Statement given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 12 July 2004, Official Report, columns 1129–155, announcing that to ensure a better co-ordination of national sports effort and resources, Patrick Carter, Chairman of Sport England, will report on the proposal to involve private and public sectors in a new National Sports Foundation.

Princess Diana Memorial Fountain

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which members of the Government attended the opening of the Princess Diana memorial fountain.

Tessa Jowell: In addition to myself, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the First Minister for Scotland and the First Minister for Wales attended the opening ceremony.

Royal Parks Agency

Richard Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people were employed in the Royal Parks Agency (a) in 1997 and (b) at the latest date for which information is available, broken down by job title; if she will list the job functions performed by those holding each job title; and for how many the primary function was (i) human resource or personnel functions, (ii) finance and accounting functions, (iii) information technology functions and (iv) other support, back office or administrative functions (A) in 1997 and (B) at the latest date for which information is available.

Richard Caborn: The average number of full-time equivalent staff employed by The Royal Parks Agency in 1997–98 was 236, and as at 1 July 2004 it was 225.
	Details of job titles and job functions are not readily available.
	Listed in the following table are the numbers of staff by function:
	
		
			  Number of Staff 
			  1997–98 2004 
		
		
			 (i) human resource or personnel functions 4 5 
			 (ii) finance and accounting functions 5 6 
			 (iii) information technology functions 2 3 
			 (iv) other support, back office or administrative functions 14 10

School Sport

Harold Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how her Department is working with local authorities to improve school sport.

Richard Caborn: The Government are implementing the Game Plan (2002) recommendation to improve the delivery of sport and physical activity through local government. We are working closely with partners at Sport England, the Local Government Association, the Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association, the Audit Commission and others to: improve local partnerships; include sport and physical activity in Local Public Service Agreements; develop an Excellence Framework for Sport and Recreation; develop strategies for improvement planning and develop and train key workers in sport. Sport in schools, and links between schools and communities, will benefit from this work.
	The Department for Education and Skills continues to work with local education authorities to ensure a strategic roll-out of the network of school sport partnerships (50 per cent. coverage from September).

School Sport

Harold Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to improve school sports facilities.

Richard Caborn: Over £850 million is available for the New Opportunities for PE and Sport, the Space for Sport and the Arts, the Green Spaces, and the Sporting Playgrounds programmes. All of these programmes can be used to improve school sports and physical activity facilities.

Second World War (60th Anniversary)

Ann Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether Lottery funding will be used to link Second World War 60th anniversary activities with youth educational initiatives.

Estelle Morris: National Lottery funding has been made available through the Veterans Reunited initiative to ensure that all generations of UK residents can commemorate the momentous events that led to the end of the Second World War. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State first announced our intention to provide Lottery support in this area last October.
	The Veterans Reunited initiative has three strands, one of which, "Their Past Your Future", is a £10 million, two-year education scheme funded by the Big Lottery Fund and led by the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in partnership with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, Scottish Museums Council, National Library of Wales, Northern Ireland Museums Council and local education authorities UK wide.
	"Their Past Your Future" concentrates on the participation of schools and young people in understanding events of the Second World War; it is designed to raise children's awareness of issues of remembrance, conflict, freedom, commemoration and reconciliation as well as informing them about historical aspects of the war. The IWM project, receiving £4 million from the Big Lottery Fund, consists of an educational website, a series of competitions for schools to win overseas commemorative visits, a travelling exhibition, and a Partnerships Scheme linking children to armed service and civilian veterans of the war. Funding of £2.3 million has also been offered to all UK local authorities to support locally organised events and activities or overseas trips.
	The UK museums, libraries and archives sector will also receive £3 million to develop programmes of events regionally and locally and to support the IWM travelling exhibitions.
	The other two strands of the Veterans Reunited initiative are Heroes Return (funding for veterans to return to an area of overseas service) and Home Front Recall (funding for UK based events and activities to mark the end of the Second World War).

Tourism

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many tourists she estimates have visited London from Belgium since 1997.

Richard Caborn: The number of visits to London by residents of Belgium, in each year since 1997, are shown in the table.
	
		Visits to London by residents of Belgium
		
			  Number (Thousand)(5) 
		
		
			 1997 420 
			 1998 366 
			 1999 357 
			 2000 312 
			 2001 302 
			 2002 289 
			 2003 306 
		
	
	(5) Figures taken from the International Passenger Survey which is run by the Office for National Statistics. Figures for regional visits by nationality are often based on small samples, which may lead to high margins of error, and should therefore be regarded as approximate estimates.

Tourism

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many tourists she estimates have visited the East of England since 1997 from (a) the USA, (b) Belgium and (c) China.

Richard Caborn: The number of visits to the East of England by residents of the relevant countries, in each year since 1997, are shown in the table.
	
		Visits to the East of England by year -- Thousand(6)
		
			 Country of residence 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 USA 222 275 222 252 211 208 214 
			 Belgium 47 51 50 61 39 57 43 
			 China 4 1 3 3 5 4 5 
		
	
	(6) Figures taken from the International Passenger Survey which is run by the Office for National Statistics. Figures for regional visits by nationality are often based on small samples, which may lead to high margins of error, and should therefore be regarded as approximate estimates.

Tourism

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many tourists she estimates have visited the North West since 1997 from (a) Japan, (b) Sydney, (c) the USA and (d) Belgium.

Richard Caborn: holding answer 12 July 2004
	The number of visits to the North West by residents of the relevant countries, in each year since 1997, are shown in the table. Figures are only available by country of residence which means that no figures are available for visits from Sydney.
	
		Visits to the North West by year -- Thousand(7)
		
			 Country of residence 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Japan 29 31 30 36 18 20 19 
			 USA 240 280 263 238 192 209 222 
			 Belgium 31 27 27 50 42 41 58 
		
	
	(7) Figures taken from the International Passenger Survey which is run by the Office for National Statistics. Figures for regional visits by nationality are often based on small samples, which may lead to high margins of error, and should therefore be regarded as approximate estimates.

Tourism

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many tourists she estimates have visited the North East since 1997 from (a) China, (b) Japan, (c) Korea, (d) Taiwan, (e) Australia, (f) the USA and (g) Belgium.

Richard Caborn: The number of visits to the North East by residents of the relevant countries, in each year since 1997, are shown in the table.
	
		Visits to the North East by year -- Thousand(8)
		
			 Country of residence 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 China 1 1 (9)— 1 1 2 2 
			 Japan 3 4 3 5 4 3 4 
			 South Korea 1 0 0 1 (9)— 2 2 
			 Taiwan 2 1 1 3 1 3 4 
			 Australia 23 17 34 17 22 22 21 
			 USA 54 52 45 45 54 52 43 
			 Belgium 22 7 24 11 13 24 14 
		
	
	(8)Figures taken from the International Passenger Survey which is run by the Office for National Statistics. Figures for regional visits by nationality are often based on small samples, which may lead to high margins of error, and should therefore be regarded as approximate estimates.
	(9)Indicates that the sample did not include any visitors to the North East from the relevant nationality.

Tourism

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many tourists she estimates have visited the South East since 1997 from (a) Belgium, (b) the USA, (c) Germany, (d) China, (e) Korea, (f) Japan and (g) Australia.

Richard Caborn: The number of visits to the South East by residents of the relevant countries, in each year since 1997, are shown in the table.
	
		Visits to the South East(10) by year -- Thousand(11)
		
			 Country of residence 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Belgium 179 147 168 115 147 153 116 
			 USA 622 709 640 679 592 561 500 
			 Germany 515 498 526 415 395 462 433 
			 China 4 9 10 6 8 7 11 
			 South Korea 10 6 5 7 6 9 7 
			 Japan 62 62 52 62 37 42 31 
			 Australia 150 149 147 163 158 140 146 
		
	
	(10) The Government Office Region of the South East excludes London.
	(11) Figures taken from the International Passenger Survey which is run by the Office for National Statistics. Figures for regional visits by nationality are often based on small samples, which may lead to high margins of error, and should therefore be regarded as approximate estimates.

Tourism

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many tourists she estimates have visited the South West since 1997 from (a) Japan and (b) the USA.

Richard Caborn: The number of visits to the South West by residents of Japan and the USA, in each year since 1997, are shown in the table.
	
		Visits to the South West by year  -- Thousand(12)
		
			 Country of residence 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Japan 36 34 31 40 20 24 15 
			 USA 343 385 350 362 287 277 279 
		
	
	(12) Figures taken from the International Passenger Survey which is run by the Office for National Statistics. Figures for regional visits by nationality are often based on small samples, which may lead to high margins of error, and should therefore be regarded as approximate estimates.

Tourism

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many tourists she estimates have visited Yorkshire since 1997 from (a) Japan and (b) China.

Richard Caborn: Figures are available for the number of visits to the Government Office Region of Yorkshire and Humberside. The number of visits to this region by residents of Japan and China, in each year since 1997, are shown in the table.
	
		Visits to Yorkshire and Humberside by year  -- Thousand(13)
		
			 Country of residence 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Japan 14 18 11 15 8 8 7 
			 China 2 1 2 3 2 4 5 
		
	
	(13) Figures taken from the International Passenger Survey which is run by the Office for National Statistics. Figures for regional visits by nationality are often based on small samples, which may lead to high margins of error, and should therefore be regarded as approximate estimates.

SCOTLAND

Empty Houses

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland for how many empty houses his Department is responsible; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The Scotland Office is not responsible for any empty houses.

Ministerial Air Travel

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list for each year since the Office's creation the number of miles flown by each Minister on official departmental business.

Anne McGuire: The information requested is not recorded separately and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	However, since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The Government have also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. These report information reaching back to 1995–96. Information for 2003–04 is currently being assembled and will be published shortly. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

South-east Asia

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what help he plans to reduce the number of women who die in pregnancy or childbirth in south-east Asia.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Maternal mortality is a major health issue in south-east Asia and a key priority for DFID. We are for example working in Indonesia with UNICEF to expand their maternal health programme. In Cambodia we are working with the Government, the World Bank and the Asia Development Bank to develop a programme of support to the health sector, a key aspect of which is to address maternal health issues.

Sexual and Reproductive Health

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the recently published sexual and reproductive health position paper.

Hilary Benn: Sexual and reproductive health and rights are essential to human development and to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Our position paper commits us to action and investment to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights, and highlights the crucial links between sexual and reproductive health and rights and efforts to prevent HIV and AIDS. Sexual and reproductive health services are a cornerstone of efforts to prevent HIV infection and this will be reflected in the forthcoming HIV and AIDS strategy. They are also fundamental to enabling women and men to exercise informed choice in matters of childbearing.

Middle East

David Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of prospects for economic development in Palestine.

Hilary Benn: The Palestinian economy is in deep crisis. This has been caused by the restrictions on the movement of Palestinian people and goods which the Government of Israel sees as an essential security procedure. The Israeli disengagement plan and additional donor funds will not alone improve the Palestinian economy. It must be accompanied by major change in the closure regime, and a reinvigorated programme of Palestinian reform.

Middle East

Harold Best: To ask the Secretary of State, Department for International Development what contribution his Department is making to tackling homelessness in Gaza.

Hilary Benn: DFID recently announced an additional contribution of £2 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency's (UNRWA) emergency programmes in Gaza. This will contribute to temporary housing, emergency food and medical care, cash assistance, house repairs and new houses in Rafah. The UK has contributed £32.7 million to UNRWA's emergency appeals to since the start of the Intifada. The Government have urged the Israeli Government in future operations to respect people's homes and take full account of international humanitarian law.

HIV/AIDS

Huw Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State, Department for International Development what support the Government can give to tackle HIV/AIDS in Caribbean countries.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID has recently agreed a £2.1 million programme of assistance to the Caribbean to firstly support the Pan Caribbean Partnership on HIV/AIDS. Secondly to support the joint programme of six Eastern Caribbean states to assist in for example training clinical care teams and the bulk purchase of anti retro viral medicines and testing kits. And third support to the Caribbean Community Secretariat (CARICOM) to organise a high level Forum in November 2004 that will consider how to reduce stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS.
	The UK Government also makes substantial contributions to the programmes of the European Commission, the World Bank and the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, all of whom are currently supporting HIV/AIDS programmes in the Caribbean.

HIV/AIDS

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State, Department for International Development what action the Government are taking with regard to HIV prevention in the developing world.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The UK is the second biggest bilateral donor on AIDS. It is directly active on AIDS in 39 countries. We support the national AIDS strategies of developing country partners, involving all relevant parts of government. DFID supports a number of multilateral institutions including WHO, UNAIDS and UNFPA and was a prime mover in setting up the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM), committing US $280 million over seven years.

Colombia

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State, Department for International Development how much money was spent on development and humanitarian projects in Colombia in each of the last five years.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The British Government has spent over £8.23 million on development and humanitarian assistance in Colombia over the last five years, including over £5.28 million spent by DFID. In 1999–2000 total HMG spend was £2.19 million (£1.54 of which from DFID); in 2000–01 £2.25 million (£1.73 million from DFID); in 2001–02 £1.48 million (£934,000 from DFID); in 2002–03 £1.83 million (£600,000 from DFID); and in 2003–04 £832,000 (£485,000 from DFID).
	DFID also contributes to Colombia through its 18 per cent. of European Commission (EC) development assistance. The EC has spent over £67.82 million 1 on development and humanitarian assistance in Colombia over the last five years. This amount includes a share of over £12.20 million from DFID.
	Additionally, DFID contributes to development in Colombia through its share of multilateral expenditure. The UK's share of spending in Colombia by multilateral organisations is estimated to be £1.25 million in 1997; £2.82 million in 1998; £1.23 million in 1999; £1.54 million in 2000; and £2.81 million in 2001.
	1 Exchange rate used: 1 = Euros 1.4859

Sudan

Malcolm Savidge: To ask the Secretary of State, Department for International Development if he will make a statement on the situation in Darfur.

Hilary Benn: The UK Government are deeply concerned about the situation in Darfur. Humanitarian requirements in all sectors (food, water, shelter) are enormous. Civilian protection is also a major concern, with reports of systematic attacks on civilians. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights report has identified disturbing patterns of human rights violations. DFID, with our EU partners, have made clear that all alleged attacks should be thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice.
	DFID is in almost daily contact with the Government of Sudan and the Darfur groups, both through our embassy in Khartoum and the joint DFID/FCO Sudan Unit in London. I visited Sudan, including Darfur, on 6–8 June. I visited three displaced persons camps there, and met with NGOs and UN agencies on the ground. Following concerted pressure from the UK Government, in conjunction with others, we have secured commitments from the Sudanese Government on access to humanitarian supplies and the disarming of militias.
	The UK is the second largest bilateral donor in Darfur, next to the US. Since September 2003, DFID has allocated £62.5 million to the humanitarian response to the crisis, which we are committing to UN agencies, the Red Cross and non-governmental organisations. UK funding has contributed to provision of water and sanitation, food, nutrition and health services for the displaced population and to their host communities in Darfur and Eastern Chad. DFID is also actively involved in urging the EU and other organisations to increase their funding.
	In terms of the security situation and civilian protection, our priority remains on the rapid deployment of the African Union (AU)-led Ceasefire Monitoring Mission. Experience from elsewhere in Sudan shows that the deployment of ceasefire monitors can have a positive effect on the security situation and the protection of civilians. Following agreement of the AU's plan on 28 May, the UK immediately committed £2 million to enable swift deployment and we are working to provide a UK monitor to the mission.
	Ultimately this crisis requires a political solution. The framework agreement reached in Naivasha in June of this year lays the groundwork for a comprehensive peace in Sudan. We continue to encourage the Government and the rebel groups in Darfur to meet and discuss a political solution.

Sudan

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his policy is on the use of satellites over Sudan.

Hilary Benn: DFID is very concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. As with all humanitarian emergencies, the international community is looking at the different technologies that can assist our response. This includes the use of satellites for telecommunications and satellite imagery.

Yemen

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State, Department for International Development what plans he has to visit Yemen to discuss bilateral aid.

Hilary Benn: I have no plans at present to visit Yemen. Yemen is the only low-income country in the region, and DFID plans to increase the size of our annual programme there from around £6 million this year to around £10 million next year. The main focus of our work is to support the Government's poverty reduction strategy programme, and DFID officials will be participating, along with the World Bank and other donors, in a progress review with the Government of Yemen in September.
	The EC spends around £10 million a year in Yemen. Around £1.8 million of this is derived from funds attributed to DFID. The programme helps increase food security, improve access to reproductive health services, strengthen democratic processes, and support the role of civil society.

Angola

John Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of progress with the removal of land mines in Angola.

Hilary Benn: DFID's Explosive Ordnance and Demining Adviser, together with the DFID Mines Programme Officer, will be visiting Angola 21—31 July to carry out an assessment of mines and unexploded ordnance in Angola and to identify possible areas for future support. The mission will build upon the assessments conducted by UNDP and the Angolan National Inter-sectoral Commission for Demining and Humanitarian Assistance (CNIDAH). We are currently providing assistance totalling £331,325 to the HALO Trust for road clearance in Cuando Cubango Province and £100,000 to Mines Advisory Group (MAG) for the same activity in Moxico Province. Additionally, we have provided support to the United Nations Development Programme project to strengthen the National Mine Co-ordination Office in Angola (US$ 300,000 in 2003–2004.)
	We are also giving urgent consideration to requests to assist in specific road de-mining activities near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to aid the return of refugees.

Departmental Accountancy Practice

Richard Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development who the Finance Director of the Department is; what accountancy qualifications the Director holds; and on how many occasions there has been a qualified opinion on (a) the resource accounts and (b) other accounts of the Department in the last five years.

Hilary Benn: The Director of Finance and Corporate Performance at DFID is Richard Calvert, who is not a qualified accountant. There have been no occasions on which DFID's accounts have been qualified in the last five years.

Parliamentary Questions

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) ordinary written and (b) named day questions his Department received in (i) the 2002–03 session and (ii) this session.

Hilary Benn: During the Parliamentary session of 2002–03, the Department for International Development (DFID) received a total of 1942 Ordinary Commons Written questions and a total of 253 Named Day Written questions.
	So far, for the Parliamentary session for 2003–04, DFID has received a total of 1,641 Ordinary Written questions and a total of 75 Named Day questions.

Iraq

Tam Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the reconstruction of Iraq.

Hilary Benn: Approximately US $32 billion in grants and soft loans were pledged for the reconstruction of Iraq at the Madrid Donors' Conference in October last year. DFID has committed over £287 million for humanitarian aid and reconstruction assistance to Iraq since March 2003, of which £70 million has been channelled through the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI).
	The Iraqi Interim Government (IIG) is now leading the reconstruction effort in Iraq. DFID is working to support the new Iraqi Government in this process. At the national level, our Emergency Public Administration Programme is providing technical advice and training focused on the key ministries for taking forward reconstruction: Finance, Planning and Development Co-operation and Municipalities and Public Works. This support includes advice on the establishment of the new Prime Minister's Office. In the South we are planning major capacity building support to the southern governorates (£20 million over two years) to enable the effective management of the reconstruction effort and to promote economic development. Other major national projects include police sector support, civil society capacity building, promoting political participation, and supporting the development of the media.
	Further details about our programme in Iraq over the next two years are set out in our Interim Country Assistance Plan, which has been placed in the House of Commons Library and can be found on the DFID website:
	www.dfid.gov.uk

Zambia

Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the progress of debt relief for Zambia.

Hilary Benn: Zambia reached Decision Point under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative in December 2000. Zambia's external debt service has averaged US$122 million per year in the three years since Decision Point. This compares with external debt service of US$570 million per year scheduled in the absence of debt relief.
	The Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) has stated its objective of reaching HIPC Completion Point at the earliest opportunity. The Department for International Development (DFID) supports GRZ in this objective. The recent approval of a new Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility with the International Monetary Fund is a major milestone towards this. DFID is also engaging in dialogue with GRZ and other donors to ensure that development assistance is effectively delivered in support of GRZ's Poverty Reduction Strategy after Completion Point.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Bottled Drinks

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if 
	(1)  he will take steps to require the producers of bottled drinks intended for consumption from the bottle in licensed premises and elsewhere to use plastic or non-breakable containers,
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of injuries caused by glasses and glass bottles in (a) licensed premises and (b) in the vicinity of licensed premises in the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement,
	(3)  if he will make representations to the licensed trade, particularly the large pub chains, to transfer from breakable glasses to plastic, in order to reduce incidents involving injury to customers.

Hazel Blears: The Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy published on 15 March proposes that the use of safer forms of glass could be included in the voluntary social responsibility schemes for industry. We are taking this forward in discussions with the industry. We are concerned about injuries caused by glass as a result of antisocial behaviour associated with excessive drinking. Figures are not available on the number of injuries caused by glass bottles.

Drugs Misuse (Warrington, North)

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on tackling drugs misuse in Warrington, North in each year since 1997.

Caroline Flint: Following the launch of the National Drug Strategy in 1998 (Revised 2002) ring fenced investment in action to tackle drugs has increased significantly. Central drug specific allocations are supplemented by local mainstream and charitable funding. Information related to mainstream and charitable funding would only be available at local level. It would incur a disproportionate cost in staff time to gather figures for each year and they would be difficult to verify.
	Breakdown of financial allocation to local constituencies is not available in the form requested as funding is allocated to Drug Action Team (DAT) areas. In this case Warrington DAT which covers Warrington, North and Warrington, South.
	The period for 1997–98 is prior to the formation of the National Drug Strategy hence there is no locally held information on funding available for that financial year.
	In 2003–04 the total drugs allocation for Warrington DAT was £938,628. In order to ensure consistency figures supplied are based on funding streams associated with the National Drug Strategy that are readily verifiable. These funding streams are specifically targeted at tackling the harm caused to individuals, families and communities by the misuse of drugs. Other mainstream funding is made available at a local level. This varies and both in amount and origin and as a result it is not possible to provide robust financial information.
	
		2003–2004
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 Partnership capacity 68,060 
			 Treatment pooled budget 627,000 
			 Through care after care pump priming 35,000 
			 Building safer communities(14) 208,568 
			 Total 938,628 
		
	
	(14)Contains non drug elements.

Firearms

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many firearms offences, including air weapon offences, were recorded in each police force area in England and Wales in 2002–03.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 5 July 2004
	Statistics for the number of non-air weapon offences by police force area were published in January in Home Office Statistical Bulletin 01/04, Crime in England and Wales 2002/03: Supplementary Volume 1: Homicide and Gun Crime. The equivalent statistics for air weapon offences are not available.

Iraq Refugees

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed asylum seekers from Iraq, having exhausted all domestic remedies, are receiving support on the basis that there is no safe route of return.

Des Browne: Prior to 25 March 2004 Kurds from the Kurdish Autonomous Zone of northern Iraq whose claim for asylum was finally rejected could, on application, be provided with accommodation under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, as amended, because there was no safe route of return available. It is now possible for Iraqis, including Kurds, to return home voluntarily. From 25 March Iraqi Kurds, like other unsuccessful asylum seekers, may be provided with accommodation under section 4 if they are unable to leave immediately due to circumstances entirely beyond their control and are complying with the process for return.
	Information on the number of Iraqis provided with accommodation because there was no viable route of return is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on the number of asylum seekers supported by the National Asylum Support Service is published quarterly and can be accessed on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

Mobile Speed Patrols

John Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police forces are using LTI 20–20 laser cameras in mobile speed patrols.

Caroline Flint: This information is not recorded centrally. It is for chief officers of police to decide which speed enforcement devices to purchase from the range that have been type approved and that are commercially available.

Organised Crime White Paper

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the White Paper on organised crime addressing the issue of a unified frontier force will be published.

Des Browne: The White Paper "One Step Ahead—A 21st Century Strategy to Defeat Organised Crime" was published on 29 March 2004. It sets out (Section 3.2) the Government's strategy on developing partnerships within border agencies and a co-ordinated approach to border security.

Prisons

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has commissioned on the effects of nutrition as a significant contributory factor in anti-social and criminal behaviour; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 13 July2004
	The Home Office has commissioned no research on the effects of nutrition as a contributory factor in antisocial behaviour and criminal behaviour and has no plans to do so.

PRIME MINISTER

Butler Inquiry

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list each document (a) requested by and (b) provided to the Butler Inquiry Committee by his Office.

Tony Blair: The Government co-operated fully with the Butler Review.

European Constitution

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Prime Minister what research he commissioned on the impact on the UK of the Supremacy of EU Law clause of the proposed European Union constitution; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: The doctrine of primacy of European Union law existed before the UK's accession to the European Community and has applied throughout Britain's membership. It is a principle of the European Community's legal order which is well-established, essential to the effective running of the European Union and beneficial to the UK.

Lisbon Strategy

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Prime Minister what steps he is taking to integrate sustainable development into the Lisbon Strategy agreed at the heads of Government meeting in 2000.

Tony Blair: The UK supported the full integration of sustainable development into the Lisbon process. This Government has already made the commitment to setting ourselves on a path to cut carbon dioxide emissions by some 60 per cent. by around 2050. We were also the first EU country to produce a policy framework focused on changing our patterns of consumption and production to make them more sustainable.
	In our representations to the high-level group appointed to advise the European Commission, on the mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy, we have called for further action to strengthen the European Union's response to climate change, through the adoption of medium-term and long-term targets. We also called for additional action to promote investment in sustainable consumption and production technologies, through the effective use of Community resources and reform of the state aid guidelines.
	We shall continue to seek further opportunities to further enhance the Lisbon strategy in this area.

Lockerbie

Tam Dalyell: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 6 July 2004, Official Report, column 622W, on Lockerbie, what action he has taken to accelerate a decision on the issues raised on 24 May.

Tony Blair: We are currently examining issues raised at the meeting with representatives of the Lockerbie families on 24 May. When this has been completed, I will be writing to the families.

United Nations

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Prime Minister when he next plans to meet his United Nations Security Council counterparts to discuss reform of the United Nations.

Tony Blair: The Government supports reform of the United Nations (UN). My discussions with leaders of other Members of the Security Council regularly cover the need to review how the international community, through the UN, can respond collectively to the problems faced by the modern world. I particularly welcome the UN Secretary-General's decision to set up a High Level Panel to review how the UN can respond more effectively to threats to international peace and security.
	The Security Council does not have primary responsibility for reform of the UN system and therefore discussions of these issues also take place with the wider UN membership.

Water Action Plan

Don Foster: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 9 June 2004, Official Report, column 448W, on the Water Action Plan, what steps are proposed for delivery of the G8 Water Action Plan in those countries which are not committed to prioritising safe water and basic sanitation; and what account was taken of the water sector's needs identified by the World Panel on Financing Water Infrastructure in allocating funding.

Tony Blair: We and other donors regularly press countries to make water and sanitation a high priority. We also work with Governments of developing countries to assist them through providing advice on planning and budgeting and improving capacity and infrastructure for water and sanitation services.
	We also provide support and work closely with development agencies and non-governmental organisations, such as UNICEF and WaterAid. For example, we have provided a £17 million grant to assist WaterAid in providing adequate water services to the poorest people in Bangladesh.
	We have examined the findings of the World Panel on Financing Water Infrastructure and are working with international organisations such as the World Bank to ensure greater investment in the water sector from both private and public sources.

HEALTH

Chest Pain Clinics

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many rapid access chest pain clinics there are in Manchester Central.

Melanie Johnson: The information is not collected on a constituency basis. However, a rapid access chest clinic is located at Manchester Royal Infirmary, part of the Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals National Health Service Trust.

Control and Restraint Measures

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what plans he has to introduce a five minute limit on control and restraint measures to the NHS;
	(2)  what research he has collated on the effects of a five minute limit on control and restraint measures in the NHS.

Rosie Winterton: Physical restraint should be a last resort to protect the service user and/or others from harm and kept to as short a time as possible. The Mental Health Act code of practice states that any restraint should be used for only as long as is necessary and be sensitive to race and gender issues. Any decisions must be based on the best available evidence.
	The National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) has recently issued positive practice standards on the management of violence in in-patient settings and the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is currently consulting on its guidance, "Disturbed (violent) behaviour: the short-term management of disturbed (violent) behaviour in in-patient psychiatric settings". The NICE guidance also has a systematic review of evidence and is scheduled for publication later in the year.

Dental Health (Children)

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what targets have been set by his Department on children's dental health; and what progress has been made in meeting them.

Rosie Winterton: Seven targets were set in the Department's 1994 oral health strategy.
	By 1998:
	33 per cent. of adults over 75 should have some natural teeth
	10 per cent. of adults over 75 should have more than 20 teeth
	75 per cent. of 50-year-olds should have more than 20 natural teeth
	50 per cent. of 30-year-olds should have more than 20 natural teeth which are sound and unfilled
	the percentage of dentate adults aged over 45-years-old with at least one deep periodontal pocket (greater than 6 millimetres) should be reduced to 10 per cent. and,
	By 2003:
	on average, 12-year-olds should have no more than one decayed, missing or filled permanent tooth.
	70 per cent. of five-year-olds should have no decay experience.
	All these targets have been met except the last one. Preliminary findings from the 2003 child dental health survey show that 59 per cent. of five-year-olds in England had no decay experience.

East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Primary Care Trust

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by how much the actual revenue funds received by the East Cambridgeshire and Fenland Primary Care Trust in the financial year 2003–04 differed from the allocation determined by the weighted capitation formula.

Stephen Ladyman: Revenue allocations to primary care trusts (PCTs) for 2003–04 to 2005–06 were announced on 12 December 2002.
	The revenue allocation to East Cambridgeshire and Fenland PCT for 2003–04 differed from the target allocation, as defined by the weighted capitation formula, by £7.9 million.

Elective Admissions (Manchester)

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the levels of elective admissions to the NHS in Manchester, Central in the past five years.

Melanie Johnson: The information is not collected on a constituency basis, but at national health service trust level. Data for NHS trusts is shown in the table.
	
		In-year elective admission episodes for Manchester NHS trusts, 1998–99 to 2002–03
		
			 NHS trusts 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 
		
		
			 Central Manchester Healthcare NHS Trust 49,071 47,969 46,217 n/a n/a 
			 Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust n/a n/a n/a 55,824 58,663 
		
	
	Notes:
	n/a—not available.
	1. Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (that is, the data are ungrossed).
	2. A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	Source:
	Hospital episode statistics, Department of Health

Employment Tribunals

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases against his Department, the agencies for which it is responsible and its predecessor organisations have been brought to employment tribunals in each year since 1997 in relation to (a) equal pay, (b) sex discrimination, (c) race discrimination, (d) disability discrimination and (e) unfair dismissal; how many cost awards were made against (i) respondents and (ii) applicants; and how much has been spent (A) settling and (B) contesting claims.

Rosie Winterton: The number of cases that have been brought to employment tribunals against the Department is shown in the table, together with details of the main costs involved. Complexity of cases, rather than volume, determines costs.
	
		
			  2000–01(15) 2001–02(15) 2002–03(15) 2003–04(15) 
		
		
			 Disability Discrimination — — — 3 
			 Race Discrimination — — — 14 
			 Sex Discrimination — — — 4 
			 Unfair Dismissal — — — 3 
			 Other — — — 3 
			 Total 91 144 207 27 
			 Counsel's fees, which represent the major cost in conducting the litigation (£) 667,756 180,141 165,003 572,437 
		
	
	(15) Financial year 1 April to 31 March
	Information prior to 2001 and the information on each category from the financial years 2001–02 to 2000–03 can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Falls and Osteoporosis

Harold Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what guidance he has issued to primary care trusts on the integration of falls and osteoporosis services;
	(2)  what opportunities there are for primary care trusts to share best practice in the integration of falls and osteoporosis services.

Stephen Ladyman: The national service framework for older people, published in 2001, contained a service model for an integrated falls service. This covered the make-up of a specialist falls service and appropriate referral points to linked services. Since then, a range of information on service development and good practice has been published and made available through the Department's website. This includes: "How can we help older people not fall again?—implementing the Older People's NSF Falls Standard: Support for commissioning good services" published in September 2003 and "Making the case for investing in falls and fractures prevention: a workbook of ideas", published February 2004. These documents were backed-up with a number of cascade training events for falls co-ordinators and commissioners on the use of the document.
	The Department has also worked closely with Help the Aged and provided support and funding for it to publish "Reducing falls risk among older people: examples of falls services across England" in June 2003 and "Managing the risk and effect of falls among older people in care homes" in May 2004.
	The National Institute for Clinical Excellence was asked to develop clinical guidelines on the prevention of falls, due for publication in September 2004 and linked guidelines on the prevention of osteoporosis due next year.
	Support has been provided for local initiatives through the national primary care development team's healthy communities collaborative on falls and the falls collaborative, which have shared their learning and experience more widely through individual contacts, printed material and a national conference held on 3 March 2004.

Health Care Forums

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had with the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Healthcare on the decision to cap forum membership at an average of 10 members per forum.

Rosie Winterton: pursuant to her reply, 28 June 2004, Official Report, c. 108W
	I regret that my previous reply was incorrect. It should read as follows:
	As an independent organisation, it was not necessary for the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) to formally consult the Department on its decision to limit the number of members of patients' forums. Through regular meetings with the CPPIH, we have been made aware of its decision and future plans.

Hospices

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the running costs of (a) children's hospices and (b) adult hospices was provided by the Government in each of the last three years.

Stephen Ladyman: This information is not collected centrally. Funding the services provided by hospices is a matter for negotiation between the hospice concerned and the national health service primary care trusts to which the hospice provides a service. There are no limits to the amount of funding which may be provided; this is for local decision.
	The amount of funding going to adult hospices will increase following the additional £50 million per annum allocated for adult specialist palliative care from last year, but full information on how much extra funding has gone to voluntary sector services is not yet known.

Hospices

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to increase funding for children's hospices.

Stephen Ladyman: Government funding for children's hospices in England is available from primary care trusts (PCTs), which are responsible for deciding which health services the local population requires, and ensuring the provision of these services. It is for individual PCTs to decide the level of funding they allocate to children's palliative care services, including services provided by children's hospices. There are no limits to the amount of funding which may be provided; this is for local decision through negotiation between children's hospices and PCTs.

Kidderminster Treatment Centre

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the anticipated start date is for the Kidderminster Treatment Centre contract; for how long it will run; and if he will make it his policy to ensure the contract coincides with the financial year of the local primary care trusts.

Stephen Ladyman: Negotiations are still under way and therefore it would be premature to announce an intended start date for this contract. We will, however, ensure that extra capacity to treat local patients, either on a permanent or interim basis, is available from October 2004. Subject to successful conclusion of negotiations, the contract would run for five years and the local primary care trusts are aware of their financial commitment for the period of the contract.

North Somerset Primary Care Trust

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether North Somerset Primary Care Trust is being asked to take debt belonging to the North Bristol Trust; and what action he is taking to ensure that primary care trusts are not forced to take on each other's debt.

Rosie Winterton: Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority has not asked local primary care trusts (PCTs) to contribute to the repayment of historic debt incurred by North Bristol National Health Service Trust. The Department agreed in 2003–04 to defer repayment of £90 million of deficits across the Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority health economy until 2006–07. This includes deficits incurred by North Bristol NHS Trust.
	Local PCTs have been asked to provide non-recurrent support to North Bristol NHS Trust to meet its current operational costs while it continues to deliver further efficiencies to achieve underlying financial balance by 2007–08.

Public Services Funding

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will identify, for (a) his Department and (b) the agencies and task forces for which it is responsible, each funding stream for public services in (i) the Isle of Thanet and (ii) the Canterbury city local authority area.

Rosie Winterton: The funding streams for health services in the Isle of Thanet and the Canterbury city local authority area are listed as follows:
	Revenue funding streams
	Unified allocations.
	Primary medical services allocations.
	Capital funding streams
	Operational capital allocations.
	Strategic capital allocations.
	Central Budgets
	Centrally funded initiatives—capital and revenue.

Waiting Times/Lists

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on NHS waiting times for heart surgery in Manchester, Central.

Melanie Johnson: In June 1998, the earliest data available, 19 people waited between nine and 11 months and 23 people were waiting 12 months or more for heart surgery in the former Manchester health authority area. In March 2004, no patient waited over nine months for heart surgery in the Central Manchester Primary Care Trust area.

Waiting Times/Lists

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes there have been to NHS waiting list times in the last seven years for the residents of Manchester, Central.

Melanie Johnson: The information is shown in the table.
	
		
			   Month- endTrust Total number of patients waiting for admission   Less than 3 months   3–5 months   6–8 months 
		
		
			 March  
			 1997 Central Manchester Healthcare NHS Trust 12,313 5,778 2,622 1,920 
			 1997 Manchester Children's Hospitals NHS Trust 2,801 952 728 528 
			 1998 Central Manchester Healthcare NHS Trust 12,531 5,813 2,454 1,676 
			 1998 Manchester Children's Hospitals NHS Trust 3,260 985 908 617 
			 1999 Central Manchester Healthcare NHS Trust 11,266 5,654 2,191 1,614 
			 1999 Manchester Children's Hospitals NHS Trust 2,742 849 753 542 
			 2000 Central Manchester Healthcare NHS Trust 11,040 5,026 2,489 1,703 
			 2000 Manchester Children's Hospitals NHS Trust 2,639 801 687 523 
			 2001 Central Manchester Healthcare NHS Trust 10,742 5,056 2,432 1,451 
			 2001 Manchester Children's Hospitals NHS Trust 2,634 831 603 552 
			 2002 March Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust 13,213 6,028 3,333 2,136 
			 2003 Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust 10,822 5,605 2,832 1,701 
			 2004 Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust 8,436 6,508 1,928 — 
		
	
	
		
			 Month- end  Trust 9–11 months 12–14 months 15–17 months 18 plus months 
		
		
			 March  
			 1997 Central Manchester Healthcare NHS Trust 1,223 616 133 21 
			 1997 Manchester Children's Hospitals NHS Trust 510 79 4 — 
			 1998 Central Manchester Healthcare NHS Trust 1,217 885 486 — 
			 1998 Manchester Children's Hospitals NHS Trust 666 74 10 — 
			 1999 Central Manchester Healthcare NHS Trust 975 622 210 — 
			 1999 Manchester Children's Hospitals NHS Trust 472 118 8 — 
			 2000 Central Manchester Healthcare NHS Trust 1,039 533 250 — 
			 2000 Manchester Children's Hospitals NHS Trust 370 218 40 — 
			 2001 Central Manchester Healthcare NHS Trust 826 606 371 — 
			 2001 Manchester Children's Hospitals NHS Trust 373 231 44 — 
			 2002 March Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust 1,216 500 — — 
			 2003 Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust 684 — — — 
			 2004 Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust — — — — 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health form KH07 and monthly monitoring.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Affordable Homes

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the target for affordable homes in settlements of less than 3,000; and what progress is being made to increase access to lower cost homes in smaller rural settlements.

Keith Hill: In 2003–04 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister exceeded its target to build 1,600 affordable homes in communities below 3,000 people. We have slightly increased that target to 3,500 new affordable homes in such communities in 2004–05 and 2005–06 and early indications are that this too will be exceeded. From 2006–07 Regional Housing Boards will be invited to propose rural targets relevant to their own regions.
	The increased target for 2004–06 includes homes for both rent and sale at below market rates.

Brownfield Sites

John Hayes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the effect of delays in the cleaning up of brownfield sites on their use in preference to greenbelt land.

Keith Hill: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has made no specific assessment of the kind referred to by the hon. Member for South Holland and the Deepings. The Government are, however, preparing a comprehensive national brownfield strategy which will examine how we can make the best use of brownfield land for the future.

China Taskforce

Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his written statement of 18 May 2004, Official Report, column 45WS, what weight the China Taskforce gives to human rights issues, with particular reference to the occupation of Tibet.

Phil Hope: The China Taskforce was set up by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister, at the request of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, to make proposals for deepening relations with China in four specific areas: Trade and Industry; Science and Technology; Education; and Sustainable Development and the Environment.
	The Government raises Human Rights issues with China on a regular basis. We use the bi-annual UK China Human Rights Dialogue to raise our concerns in detail, and also raise issues through ministerial contacts, public statements and EU mechanisms.

Departmental Buildings

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what has been the total floor space area of buildings owned or leased by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies in each year since 1997.

Phil Hope: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was established in May 2002. The total floor space area of buildings owned or leased in each year since that date is as follows:
	
		net internal area m(17)
		
			  Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (including GOs)  ODPM agencies 
		
		
			 2002–03 156,425 72,562 
			 2003–04 165,623 71,004 
		
	
	This includes the space that other Government Departments occupy in buildings owned or leased by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister but does not include space that the Office occupies in other Government Departments' buildings.
	Although the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has overall responsibility for the buildings occupied by Government Offices, they carry out functions on behalf of 10 Departments.

Government Estate (Sustainable Development)

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what changes there have been in (a) road transport vehicle carbon dioxide emissions and (b) single occupancy car commuting from his Department against the baseline year of the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate.

Phil Hope: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was unable to establish a baseline for 2002–03 for either (a) road transport vehicle carbon dioxide emissions or (b) single occupancy car commuting, due to the lack of available data. The data for 2003–04 is still being collated, and will be included in the Sustainable Development in Government: third annual report to be produced by Defra, and published in the autumn.

Government Estate (Sustainable Development)

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his Department has joined the Watermark project; and what changes there have been in water consumption by his Department in each year since 1997.

Phil Hope: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister joined the Watermark project in 2002, and submitted data for its central London buildings of Eland House and Ashdown House, as well as for the Planning Inspectorate Agency based at Temple Quay House, Bristol and six Government Office and six Rent Service Buildings. Some parts of the estate such as the Fire Service College and the QEII Centre did not submit data, and some other buildings were unable to as they have a shared occupancy where tenancies are not separately metered.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was formed in May 2002. Thus 2002–03 formed our baseline water consumption year when 183,346m 3 was used in all the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister buildings that monitor and record water usage. This figure includes all buildings for which data is available, regardless of whether or the data was submitted to the Watermark project. In 2003–04 their water consumption reduced to 160,187m 3 .
	Although the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has overall responsibility for the buildings occupied by Government Offices, they carry out functions on behalf of 10 Departments.

Green Belt

John Hayes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what the area of land that has been added to the Green Belt was in each year since 1997; and what the total area added was since 1997;
	(2)  what the area of land that has been removed from the Green Belt in each year since 1997 is; and what the total area removed since 1997 is;
	(3)  what change there has been in the area of Green Belt land in metropolitan areas since 1997.

Keith Hill: Figures were released on 29 March 2004 showing net changes in the extent of Green Belt between 1997 and 2003. Estimates for the intervening years have not been produced. It was announced in this House on 26 May that an error had been identified in these recently published statistics. Further checks are being carried out to ensure the reliability of the figures prior to re-issuing these statistics.
	I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible with the information requested when the checks have been completed, and will make a copy of the letter available in the Library of the House.

Green Belt

John Hayes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how often the size of the Green Belt is calculated.

Keith Hill: Statistics on the extent of Green Belt in each local authority in England, derived from digitised boundaries of Green Belt contained in maps of local development plans, were first published in 2000. Prior to then, estimates were provided but not necessarily on a consistent basis. Statistics, based on updated local development plans, were published in March 2004. Following an error in the latest statistics which was announced to the House on 26 May, a thorough audit of the data is currently being carried out prior to re-publication shortly. It is intended that in future, updates of the extent of Green Belt in England will be published annually.

Green Belt

John Hayes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  how much of the land added to the Green Belt since 1997 was previously (a) brownfield, (b) industrial, (c) commercial and (d) forest land;
	(2)  how much of the land removed from the Green Belt since 1997 has been redesignated as (a) brownfield, (b) industrial, (c) commercial and (d) forest land.

Keith Hill: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Homelessness

Mr. Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of (a) local authority and (b) registered social landlord lettings have been allocated to statutorily homeless households in temporary accommodation in each year since 1 May 1997.

Phil Hope: A table on the percentage of permanent local authority and registered social landlord lettings given to statutory homeless households in each financial year since 1997 is given in the table. No information is available to distinguish whether or not these statutory homeless households have been in temporary accommodation previous to receiving a permanent tenancy.
	
		Percentage new lettings given to households that are statutory homeless(16)
		
			 Tenure 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 LA(17) 21 20 21 23 26 29  
			 RSL 12 12 12 12 13 14 15 
		
	
	(16)Transfers, mutual exchanges and non-secure lettings are excluded from the figures.
	(17)1997–98 includes only secure tenancies, while all other years include introductory tenancies. Data not yet available for 2003–04
	Source:
	ODPM's Housing Investment Programme returns and Housing Corporation's Continous REcording return (CORE)

Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister who the members of the local Strategic Partnership in the Wakefield metropolitan district are; and whether the Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder applies to Wakefield metropolitan district council.

Phil Hope: The executive board of the Wakefield District Partnership (the local strategic partnership for the area), has a membership of 21. Those individuals represent a range of organisations, including Wakefield Metropolitan District Council, four public sector bodies (two local PCT's, W. Yorks Police and METRO—the Passenger Transport Exec for W. Yorks), three business organisations (1st Development Agency for Wakefield District, Mid-Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and Yorkshire Forward), five community/voluntary organisations (VOX x two representatives, Wakefield Asian Forum, the Community Assembly and Wakefield Cathedral) and the chairs of the LSP's thematic sub-partnerships.
	There are no Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder schemes in the Wakefield metropolitan district.

Neighbourhood Renewal Fund

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much Neighbourhood Renewal Fund money has been spent in each of the wards that qualify in the Wakefield Metropolitan District since the fund's inception.

Phil Hope: The information is as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 Specifically directed to the wards in the worst 10 per cent. on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2000 on the multiple index 3.6 
			 Specifically directed to wards in the worst 10 per cent. on one of the domains in the IMD 2000 1.3 
			 Directed to areas of identified deprivation in all wards across the district 5.0

Ordnance Survey

Richard Bacon: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many people were employed at the Ordnance Survey (a) in 1997 and (b) at the latest date for which information is available, broken down by job title; if he will list the job functions performed by those holding each job title; and for how many people the primary function was (i) human resource or personnel functions, (ii) finance and accounting functions, (iii) information technology functions and (iv) other support, back office or administrative functions (A) in 1997 and (B) at the latest date for which information is available.

Phil Hope: Total full-time equivalent staff numbers at Ordnance Survey, taken from Civil Service Statistics 2002 (the latest official figures available), were 1,810 in 1997 and 1,830 in April 2002.
	Ordnance Survey's internal management information provides more detail about the current complement (full-time equivalents as at July 2004).
	
		
			  Full-time equivalent staff 
		
		
			 Data collection and management group 566 
			 Information systems group 233 
			 Programmes and products group 254 
			 Sales and market development group 210 
			 Finance group 62 
			 Strategy group 31 
			 Human resources and corporate services group 106 
			 Total 1,462 
		
	
	The reduction of almost 20 per cent. since 1997 has been achieved, in large part, through the effective application of new technology to meeting customers' needs. It has been supported by judicious use of voluntary early retirement and voluntary early severance schemes.
	Ordnance Survey has undergone considerable restructuring since 1997 and as a result the breakdown by business group is not comparable with the older figures. Full-time equivalent numbers by group for 1997 were:
	
		
			  Full-time equivalent staff 
		
		
			 Data collection 738 
			 Information systems 318 
			 Marketing 318 
			 Sales 206 
			 Business services 217 
			 Corporate office 13 
			 Total 1,810 
		
	
	A breakdown of the current headcount by job title is available but runs to several pages so is not included here. Equivalent information for 1997 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Postal Voting

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the estimated total cost is of the all-postal pilots in the June elections, broken down by region.

Nick Raynsford: The Government's current estimate of the cost of the combined elections in June 2004, in the regions in which all-postal voting is being piloted is:
	
		
			 Region Estimate (£ million) 
		
		
			 East Midlands 5 
			 North East 3.2 
			 North West 9.1 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 6.5 
			 Total 23.8

Public Services (Funding)

Roger Gale: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will identify, for (a) his Department and (b) the agencies and task forces for which it is responsible, each funding stream for public services in (i) the Isle of Thanet and (ii) the Canterbury city local authority area.

Nick Raynsford: The funding streams for those public services in the area of the Isle of Thanet and Canterbury city council include Revenue Support Grant, National Non Domestic Rates and Council Tax. In addition, this Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has responsibility for the following relevant funding streams:
	Supported Capital Expenditure (Revenue) which provides funds for investment in housing
	Housing Revenue Account Subsidy
	Disabled Facility Grant
	Housing Corporation funding for investment in housing through registered social landlords
	Transitional Local Authority Social Housing Grant Compensation
	Planning Delivery Grant
	Single Regeneration Budget
	European Regional Development Fund
	Capital Challenge (Supplementary Credit and Basic Credit Approvals)
	Supporting People
	Arson Control Forum Implementation Fund

Regional Assemblies

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much he has spent to date on publicising the proposed regional assembly referendums; and what the expected expenditure is up to polling day.

Nick Raynsford: To date, the Government have spent £1,931,000 on the elected regional assembly information campaign.
	The expected total expenditure is £5 million. For a breakdown of costs, I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for North Essex (Mr. Jenkin) on 19 April 2004, Official Report, column 366W.

Right-to-buy Scheme

Harold Best: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the number of council homes purchased under the Right-to-Buy scheme in (a) Leeds, North-West, (b) Leeds, (c) West Yorkshire and (d) England since 1 May 1997.

Keith Hill: The following information for Leeds, North-West and Leeds has been provided directly from Leeds city council. The information for West Yorkshire and England was provided to Government office for Yorkshire and the Humber by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's statistics team, their information source is taken from the data provided by local authority statistical returns.
	Council homes purchased, since 1 May 1997, under the Right-to-Buy scheme in:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 (a) Leeds, North-West 1,415 
			 (b) Leeds 7,310 
			 (c) West Yorkshire (18)27,044 
			 (d) England (18)303,494 
		
	
	(18) 2003–04 data for LAs (reported) and GOs and England are due to be published later this month.

Social Housing (Leeds)

Harold Best: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to increase the provision of social housing in Leeds, North-West.

Keith Hill: The 2003 Sustainable Communities Plan set out the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's plans for increasing investment in housing up to 2005–06. It identified actions that we are now taking to improve the availability and quality of social housing, including the establishment of Regional Housing Boards with responsibility for the production of Regional Housing Strategies and advise to Ministers on the allocation of resources to meet regional priorities. The 2004 Spending Review will set out our plans for housing investment for 2006–07 and 2007–08.
	The 2003 Regional Housing Strategy and its accompanying investment framework includes the provision of sufficient new homes, creating mixed income and sustainable communities as one of its objectives. This is reflected in the investment framework which, in addition to meeting Housing Corporation commitments and pre-allocations, has commissioned a £51 million two year programme from the Housing Corporation. One of the priorities is affordable housing and a partnership has been set up to tackle the lack of affordable housing in the 'Golden Triangle' area of North Leeds, Harrogate and Leeds. The Regional Housing Board have also provisionally agreed to provide £0.5 million for 2005–06 from its 'Transformational Commissioning' programme and, subject to the outcome of the spending review, significant future commitments over the following five years.
	Since 1997 in North West Leeds, the Housing Corporation has invested £2.4 million of social housing grant to provide 80 dwellings of affordable housing.
	Leeds city council is also using Planning Policy Guidance (PPG3) to secure an element of affordable housing on new residential development. In this financial year (2004–05) there are 38 affordable houses due to be completed. The council is seeking 50 per cent. of affordable housing on the East of Otley strategic site, which will provide 292 affordable units. On other North West Leeds sites, the council are seeking 25 per cent. of the homes to be affordable. In total these would provide around £500 affordable homes over the next five to 10 years.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will also be consulting on taking forward the recommendations of Kate Barker's review of housing supply, which include proposals to increase the supply of affordable and sustainable homes.

Urban Sprawl

John Hayes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what process his Department uses to monitor urban sprawl;
	(2)  how his Department defines urban sprawl.

Keith Hill: Urban sprawl is not a term which is defined in legislation or Government guidance. However, it is generally understood to be the unplanned expansion of an urban area as opposed to planned, sustainable urban growth.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister monitors, through Land Use Change Statistics (LUCS), the extent of, and the changes between, urban and rural land uses. The most recent LUCS Release was published in May as "Land Use Change in England: Residential Development to 2003".

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Bosnia

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the role of British peacekeeping forces in Bosnia in relation to the hunt for war crime suspects, with particular reference to (a) Radovan Karadzic and (b) General Ratko Mladic.

Denis MacShane: The UK remains fully committed to bringing Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic to trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia. Their continued presence at large is an obstacle to justice and reconciliation, and to the region's political and economic development.
	UK troops have been involved in the detention of 21 indictees, of the total of 46 apprehended by NATO SFOR. The UK Government remains committed to diplomatic, political and operational efforts to bring about the detention and transfer to The Hague of all fugitive indictees.

Ukraine

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Ukrainian Government on possible advice and assistance to them in the presidential election in October; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: The British embassy in Kiev is in regular contact with the Ukrainian authorities and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) project office in Kiev about advice and assistance in regard to the elections. Some OSCE assistance is part-funded by the Government. I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to him today (UIN 183755).

Ukraine

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the British ambassador to the Ukraine on the forthcoming presidential election in the Ukraine; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: The British ambassador reports regularly from Kiev to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary in writing, including on matters connected with the Presidential election.

Ukraine

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial assistance the Government will give the Ukrainian Government to assist them in the presidential election in October; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: The Government have committed more than £3 million to create an environment in which Ukrainian elections can be more democratic, improve candidates' media access and enable independent Ukrainian media to expose electoral malpractice. In addition to direct assistance to the Ukrainian Government through the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, many of these projects are delivered by NGOs in Ukraine.

Ukraine

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what observer personnel will be sent by the Government to the presidential election in the Ukraine in October; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: The Government are committed to providing 10 per cent. of the personnel for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) election observation missions. This will include the deployment of a substantial number of British observers to Ukraine for the Presidential elections. Precise arrangements have yet to be finalised.

Ukraine

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the President of the Ukraine on the conduct of the presidential election in October; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: At the NATO-Ukraine summit in Istanbul in June, attended by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, NATO Heads of Government drew President Kuchma's attention to the need for free and fair elections. The elections were also discussed at the EU-Ukraine summit in The Hague on 8 July, which President Kuchma attended.

Border Movements (Iran)

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department is monitoring the number of persons moving over the border from Iran into Iraq; what assessment he has made of the purposes of their migration; and what representations he has made to the Iranian Government concerning this issue.

Jack Straw: The Iraqi Interim Government is responsible for Iraq's border security and has announced that it will use advanced technology to intercept terrorists, smugglers, illegal immigrants and contraband. We are working to help the Iraqis with this.
	Migration between Iran and Iraq is a bilateral matter for those two countries. But we have made very clear to the Iranian authorities that we expect them not to take actions that would undermine Iraq's stability.

Cyprus

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Turkish Government on the reopening of discussions with the Government of the Republic of Cyprus to seek to resolve the issue of missing people following the events of 1974 in Cyprus.

Denis MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not had any recent discussions with the Turkish Government about this. But we take very seriously the issue of missing persons in Cyprus. We urge all sides to co-operate in reactivating the Committee of Missing Persons in order to resolve this painful question once and for all.
	The staff of the British High Commission in Nicosia work closely with the United Nations' Acting Third Member of the Committee on Missing Persons in order to identify areas where the UK can assist in taking the issue forward.

Cyprus

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the President of the Republic of Cyprus since the referendum result on the Annan Plan proposals.

Denis MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has spoken to President Papadopoulos and other members of the Republic of Cyprus Government in the margins of meetings of the European Council and the General Affairs Council on a number of occasions since the 24 April referendums.

Cyprus

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Turkish Cypriot administration in Northern Cyprus on steps to ensure that land and properties belonging to Greek Cypriots in Northern Cyprus are not sold to non-Cypriots; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I met the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community on 1 July. They discussed the current situation in Cyprus and how best to take forward efforts to reach a settlement.
	Satisfactorily resolving the issue of property remains central to achieving a comprehensive and sustainable settlement. It is a matter of deep regret that the UN Secretary-General's settlement plan, which set out a way to resolve these property questions, based in part on Greek Cypriot ideas, was rejected by the Greek Cypriots on 24 April.

Cyprus

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Greek Cypriot Government on (a) how financial help can be given to the Turkish Cypriot community living in Northern Cyprus and (b) for what projects this money will be spent.

Denis MacShane: The EU General Affairs Council on 26 April agreed that, notwithstanding the rejection of the settlement plan by the Greek Cypriots, €259 million previously earmarked for northern Cyprus in the event of a settlement should still be used for that purpose.
	Following the publication on 7 July of the Commission's proposals for financial aid to the Turkish Cypriots, EU member states are working to reach final agreement on these measures. It is envisaged that the funds will be used to encourage the economic integration of the island, through alignment with the EU acquis, to improve contacts between the two communities and with the EU, and to develop the infrastructure.

Cyprus

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Greek Cypriot Government on bilateral relations following the referendum vote in Cyprus.

Denis MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I regularly meet the Cypriot Foreign Minister George Iacovou. Most recently I spoke to Mr. Iacovou at the General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels on 12 July. We discussed UK-Cyprus relations and the need to reach a Cyprus settlement. I told Mr. Iacovou that I hoped to visit Cyprus soon.

Cyprus

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representation the British High Commissioner and senior members of his staff in Cyprus have at joint meetings of Greek and Turkish Cypriots; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: The ambassador of Slovakia organises and hosts regular bi-communal meetings at the Ledra Palace in Nicosia. Non-Cypriots are not usually invited.
	The British High Commissioner separately organises and hosts events to which members of both communities are invited.

Cyprus

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimates were made of the number of Greek Cypriots who would have been able to return to their former properties in Northern Cyprus under the Annan Plan proposals; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: As a result of the proposed territorial adjustment set out in the Annan Plan, the UN estimated that more than 86,000 (around 120,000 with offspring) displaced Greek Cypriots would have been able to return to their former homes under Greek Cypriot administration.
	In addition, after the end of the transitional period, the UN estimated that some further 100,000 Greek Cypriots would have been able to take up permanent residence in the territory under Turkish Cypriot administration.

Cyprus

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the further developments that the Turkish Government have indicated are required on the issue of Cyprus; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: Prime Minister Erdogan's Government have adopted a positive and constructive approach, fully in support of the UN's efforts to reach a Cyprus settlement. I commend them for that. Any positive steps that either side might take in order to give a renewed boost to settlement efforts would of course be most welcome.

Cyprus

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he discussed at his recent meeting with Mr. Mehmet Ali Talat the de-mining of land in the Turkish Cypriot area in Northern Cyprus.

Denis MacShane: When my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I met Mr. Talat on 1 July the issue of de-mining was not discussed.
	However, the Government are supportive of efforts to address this important issue and in our contacts with the Turkish Cypriot authorities we have urged them to move forward.
	It should also be noted that the European Commission is funding a de-mining project in Cyprus. This project is drawing on UK expertise and is partly funded by a UK contribution.

Cyprus

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the British representative to the United Nations in New York last met the Greek Cypriot representative; what subjects were discussed; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: The UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations meets his Greek Cypriot counterpart on a regular basis—including at the weekly meetings of EU ambassadors.
	The most recent detailed discussions between the UK and Cypriot missions in New York took place on 29 June when the UK Deputy Permanent Representative called on ambassador Mavroyiannis.

Departmental Publications (Storage)

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many departmental publications are in storage; and where they are located.

Jack Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) produces a range of printed publications; some are produced in-house, others are published on our behalf by commercial publishers e.g. The Stationery Office. Details are included in the FOI Publication Scheme on the FCO website: www.foc.gov.uk. Limited stocks are held of publications for which the FCO is both the publisher and distributor; publications are re-printed as required. The retention and storage of items published commercially is a matter for the publisher.

Dr. al-Qaradawi

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in which country the visa for Dr. al-Qaradawi was granted; and what consultation took place between London and the consular office who granted the visa.

Jack Straw: I am withholding the information requested under exemption 5 of Part 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
	It is not our practice to disclose details of individual entry clearance cases.

EU Constitution

Angela Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 28 June 2004, Official Report, column 128W, on EU Policy (Voting Method), whether, under Part III of the draft Treaty, because the voting method is not specified, the default applies, and proposals are subject to Qualified Majority Voting.

Denis MacShane: holding answer 6 July 2004
	As under the current Treaty, member states will coordinate their economic policies through broad economic policy guidelines which are non-binding and finalised in the European Council by consensus; and the Council will also continue to vote by QMV for other stages of multilateral surveillance and excessive deficit procedures as set out in article III-71 and III-76. Only members of the euro area would vote where a decision concerns a member of the area. The new Constitutional Treaty does not affect a member state's ability to determine its own economic policies.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which Government Ministers are planning to visit Gibraltar on 4 August to join in the tercentenary celebrations.

Denis MacShane: Details of any ministerial involvement will be announced nearer the time.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the electorate of Gibraltar will be entitled to vote in the referendum on the European Constitution.

Denis MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary is sympathetic to the inclusion of the Gibraltar electorate in the franchise for the referendum on the EU Constitutional Treaty, as he stated to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 25 May. As yet, the Government have not yet taken a decision on this issue and are continuing to consider the matter.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times he has spoken to the Chief Minister of Gibraltar in the past 12 months; and what main issues were discussed.

Denis MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary spoke to the Chief Minister of Gibraltar in London on 26 May 2004 when they discussed Gibraltar's constitutional reform proposals.

TRANSPORT

Finningley Airport

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of local employment opportunities to be created by the development of Finningley airport; what assessment has been made of the effect on jobs at other regional airports; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The development of the airport at Finningley is likely to create at least 2,400 new jobs. The assessment of the effect on jobs at other regional airports shows that the diversion effects would be relatively small and would not inhibit their long-term growth potential.

Finningley Airport

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was allocated to Peel Holdings plc for the development of Finningley airport from (a) Objective 1 funds and (b) other sources of European and public funds.

Tony McNulty: No allocation of funds from either Objective 1, other European or public funds has been made to Peel Holdings for the development of the airport at Finningley. As a result of Peel Holdings' application for Objective 1 support, a submission to the European Commission has been made but no decision has yet been received.

Finningley Airport

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the compliance of the development of Finningley airport with the (a) public inquiry decision and (b) EU rules on additionality; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: Insofar as a submission has been made to the European Commission for the use of Objective 1 funds for the development of the airport at Finningley, officials have taken the public inquiry decision as well as additionality criteria into account in their submission. Compliance with the public inquiry decision would be a condition of any future offer of grant. A growth limit is also imposed on the airport by the public inquiry decision.

Airline Pilots (Security Passes)

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on proposed changes to the system for issuing security passes to airline pilots; and what the (a) timetable and (b) process for introduction is.

Tony McNulty: The Department is not planning any changes to the system for issuing Restricted Zone passes to airline pilots. Officials are, however undertaking a review of the criminal record check requirement for holders of restricted zone passes. The timing of implementation of any agreed changes would be dependent on consultations with stakeholders.

Airtrack

David Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  when he, his ministerial colleagues or his officials last met the Strategic Rail Authority to discuss Airtrack; and what matters were discussed;
	(2)  when he, his ministerial colleagues or officials last met the promoters of Airtrack; and what was discussed;
	(3)  what assessment his Department has made of the likely impact on traffic flows on motorways close to Heathrow airport of introducing Airtrack.

Tony McNulty: The promoters of Airtrack last briefed officials on progress in developing their proposals on 6 July. Officials also received a briefing from the SRA on 18 June in the wider context of surface access issues at Heathrow airport. At this stage, the Department has not made any assessment of the effect of Airtrack on traffic flows on motorways close to the airport.

Alcohol Limits

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to review the maximum limit for consumption of alcohol by drivers of road vehicles.

David Jamieson: There are no plans at present to review the legal alcohol limit for drivers. The Government considers that strengthened enforcement of existing controls, together with high-profile publicity campaigns and driver education, is the appropriate way of reducing drink-related crashes and casualties.

Crew Travel Scheme

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to expand the scope of the crew travel scheme.

David Jamieson: In the White Paper 'British Shipping: Charting a new course' we said we would extend the scheme to include EU ports, but would limit CRCS to UK flagged vessels. Revision of the eligibility criteria for the Crew Relief Costs scheme requires primary legislation. To date no pparliamentary time has been available.

Cross-border Toll Roads

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the National Assembly for Wales regarding the introduction of cross-border toll roads.

David Jamieson: There have been no specific discussions regarding the introduction of cross-border toll roads with the National Assembly for Wales.

Drivers (Drug Testing)

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what arrangements have been put in place for the testing of drivers of road vehicles who are suspected by a police officer to be driving while under the influence of drugs.

David Jamieson: Where the police suspect that a driver is unfit to drive, and may be under the influence of drugs, there are long-standing provisions for the police to arrest and test the driver in custody. In addition, section 107 of and schedule 7 to the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 provide powers for the police to require specimens for roadside screening tests for the presence of drugs and to undertake impairment testing that will help an officer reach a judgement whether a driver may be unfit to drive.
	The type-approval specification for roadside screening devices and the Code of Practice for officers administering impairment testing (required by the new legislation) are presently in preparation.

Foreign-registered Vehicles

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 23 June 2004, Official Report, column 1405W, on foreign registered vehicles, under what statutory powers UK police may prosecute Irish registered vehicles that do not display up-to-date Irish road tax; and in respect of how many such vehicles prosecutions have been brought in the last three years.

David Jamieson: The UK enforcement authorities may prosecute Irish registered vehicles which do not display up-to-date Irish road tax under Section 29 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994. Figures for prosecutions against foreign registered vehicles are not available.

Heathrow-Belfast Flights

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will hold discussions with British Airways as part of the Regional Air Services Consultation in relation to the reintroduction of a Heathrow-Belfast service by the airline; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 13 July 2004
	It is not Government policy to intervene in individual airline's commercial decisions with regard to flight destinations. However we recognise the importance of regional air services to London and recently launched a public consultation on the protection of regional air services to London. We will continue to hold discussions with the UK airline industry as we develop policy in this area. In addition, the hon. Lady will be aware that since it was set up in September last year, the Northern Ireland Route Development Fund has lead to the establishment of four new routes to destinations in the UK and continental Europe and discussions are under way on additional services.

HGV Accidents

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accidents in (a) 2003 and (b) 2002 involving heavy goods vehicles resulted in a person being killed or seriously injured; and how many people were killed or seriously injured in collisions involving an HGV in (a) 2003 and (b) 2002.

David Jamieson: The following table shows both fatal and serious accidents and fatal and seriously injured casualties in accidents involving heavy goods vehicles in 2003 and 2002.
	
		Accidents and casualties involving HGVs by severity: 2002,2003
		
			  Fatal Serious Total 
		
		
			 Accidents  
			 2003 480 1,755 2,235 
			 2002 480 1,888 2,368 
			 
			 Casualties
			 2003 528 2,111 2,639 
			 2002 532 2,374 2,906

Ministerial Air Travel

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list for each year since the Department's creation the number of miles flown by each Minister on official departmental business.

Tony McNulty: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The Government have also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. These report information reaching back to 1995–96. Information for 2003–04 is currently being assembled and will be published shortly. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

Motor Cycling

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with groups representing motorcyclists with a view to involving them in efforts to reduce road casualties attributable to motorcycling.

David Jamieson: The Advisory Group on Motorcycling, which I Chair, has been reviewing motorcycling safety in considerable depth, among other motorcycling issues, and will shortly publish its Final Report to Government, following which the Government will issue its national strategy for motorcycling. The Advisory Group includes the British Motorcyclists Federation, the Motorcycle Action Group, the Motorcycle Industry Association, the Motorcycle Retailers Association, the Motorcycle Rider Training Association and the Despatch Association.

Oil Transfers (Lyme Bay)

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 5 July 2004, Official Report, column 481W, on oil transfers (Lyme Bay), if he will list the vessels involved in oil transfers in Lyme Bay in 2003, broken down by (a) mother ships and (b) shuttle tankers.

David Jamieson: Further investigation by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has confirmed that there were in fact 20 ships involved in transfers in 2003.
	The mother ships were:
	Iran Hormoz
	Arosa
	Iran Nabi.
	The shuttle tankers were:
	Baltic Commander
	Fili
	Natura
	Kogalym
	Zoja II
	Maremar
	Montreaux
	Seine
	White Point
	Kapitan Putilin
	Kazym River
	FS Vanessa
	Odin
	Kapitan Zhuraylov
	Blue Dolphin
	Alia
	Nounou.

Ports

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he subscribes to the policy on port development set out in paragraph 2.5.10 of Modern Ports: a UK Policy.

David Jamieson: Yes. Government policy on port development remains as set out in this and other related paragraphs in the document.

Ports

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he subscribes to the policy on container ports set out in paragraphs (a) 2.1.4, (b) 2.1.5, (c) 2.4.6 and (d) 2.4.8 of Modern Ports: a UK Policy.

David Jamieson: Yes. Government policy on container ports remains as set out in these and other related paragraphs in the document.

Potters Bar Rail Accident

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what powers he has to intervene in the payment of compensation by Network Rail to the bereaved families and survivors of the Potters Bar derailment; what plans and representations he has made to Network Rail on this subject; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: Compensation cases of this kind have to be resolved between the victims or their representatives and Network Rail and Jarvis. Ultimately the courts are the only body that can intervene if no agreement is reached. There are no powers for Ministers to intervene. However, I have written to Network Rail about the issues raised on compensation in your adjournment debate on the Potters Bar derailment on 30 June.

Queen Mary

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what date the Marine and Coastguard Agency inspected the Queen Mary; what certification the vessel was given; on what date the attention of the MCA was drawn to the fire hazards present in the ship; what the source of this information was; and what investigations the MCA is carrying out into the original survey and certification.

David Jamieson: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency issued a Passenger Ship Safety Certificate for the Queen Mary 2 on 22 December 2003. Representatives of the BBC met with the Agency's Chief Executive on 8 June 2004 and alerted him to their on-going investigation into the fire safety standards of the ship's bathroom units. The Agency immediately started their own investigation, taking samples and having them tested. These tests were completed on 24 June.
	The Agency has now started a further investigation into the products used in the manufacture of bathroom units and its original testing and certification. In the meantime, additional safety measures have been introduced onboard the Queen Mary 2.

Rail Regulator

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what restrictions will be placed on the previous rail regulator representing rail companies as a private lawyer; and for how long these restrictions will apply.

Alistair Darling: Under the rules on the acceptance of outside appointments, Mr. Tom Winsor applied for permission to accept an appointment with White and Case Solicitors. The Prime Minister, on the advice of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, approved the application subject to certain specified conditions that have been agreed with Mr. Winsor:
	That any GB rail practice which Mr Winsor establishes does not, from the date of termination of his term as Rail Regulator, provide legal advice:
	(i) for three months to any client in respect of any aspect of GB railways;
	(ii) for six months to any train or freight operating company with GB railways interests;
	(iii) for 12 months to any company in whose favour Mr. Winsor has, as Regulator or International Rail Regulator, determined a legal appeal; and
	(iv) for two years to Network Rail or any of its subsidiaries.
	Furthermore, for two years after Mr. Winsor ceases to be Regulator he would, consistent with his professional obligations, inform the Department of an intention to provide legal advice to any company, other than passenger or freight operating companies in respect of GB railway interests and Network Rail or its subsidiaries, where there are reasonable grounds to include there is a conflict of interest or propriety issue to be addressed. Mr. Winsor would be required to accept as final the Secretary of State's decision on propriety.
	This information was published in a press statement issued by the Rail Regulator on 28 June 2004.

Rail Regulator

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the budget of the rail regulator for 2003–04 was; what the budget for the new rail regulator board for its first year of operation is; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Darling: The original budget set for the Office of the Rail Regulator for the financial year 2003–04 was £14.8 million.
	The budget set for the financial year 2004–05 is £14.1 million. The first three months of the budget related to the operation of the Office of the Rail Regulator. The final nine months relate to the operation of the Office of Rail Regulation.

Rescue Co-ordination Centres

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many rescue co-ordination centres were understaffed at 1 July; and how many staff were (a) fully qualified and (b) watch assistants on that date.

David Jamieson: Of the 19 HM Coastguard rescue co-ordination centres in the UK, 11 carried vacancies at 1 July. The number of fully qualified staff on the watch rota on that date was 389, of which 215 were watch assistants.

Rural Bus Grants (Warrington)

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many rural bus services in Warrington, North are supported by rural bus grants.

Tony McNulty: Rural Bus Subsidy Grant (RBSG) is paid to local transport authorities, in the case of Warrington, North this is the Warrington borough council. It is for the authority to decide which services should be supported with the grant. Warrington's RBSG allocation for 2004–05 is £107,875, and we understand from the local authority that this supports three bus services in Warrington, North.

Seafarer Training

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will approve 100 per cent. SMarT-type funding for training for seafarers.

David Jamieson: Financial assistance under the Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme covers around 50 per cent. of the costs. There are currently no plans to increase this to 100 per cent.

Seafarer Training

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to allow the training of UK domiciled seafarers to (a) Master and (b) Chief Engineer level to be state aided training.

David Jamieson: Financial assistance to organisations providing seafarer training is provided under the Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme. Master and Chief Engineer levels are not covered by the scheme, and there are currently no plans to do so.

Seafarer Training

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to provide state subsidies for the shore based training of cadets.

David Jamieson: Financial assistance is available to organisations providing merchant navy training under the Government's Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme. Shore based training of cadets is assisted under SMarT categories 2, 3 and 4.

Speed Cameras/Limits

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people have been (a) killed and (b) seriously injured since the installation of the camera at each speed camera site covered by the University College London/PA Consulting Group report.

David Jamieson: Information on the numbers of people killed or seriously injured at safety camera sites operated by the 22 English and Welsh Partnerships was published by the department on 15 June and is available in the Library. I will write to the hon. Member with information on the numbers of people killed at each site.

Speed Cameras/Limits

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what plans he has to change the hierarchy of speed limits on roads, with particular reference to rural roads; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  when he intends to publish an amended guidance circular on setting speed limits.

David Jamieson: My Department will shortly be consulting on a draft circular, updating the Government's guidance to local authorities on the setting of local speed limits. We aim to complete the consultation and publish the new circular by the end of 2004.
	We do not envisage introducing a hierarchy of speed limits on roads, in the light of the Government's Report on a Rural Road Hierarchy, published in November 2001, which concluded that a formal hierarchy of road types and speeds would be over-rigid, and inconsistent with local authorities' flexibility in setting speed limits which reflect local circumstances.

Tonnage Tax

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has conducted into the different levels of tonnage tax, which apply to other EU countries.

David Jamieson: Tonnage tax rates in EU member states are shown in the following table.
	
		Taxable profit per ship per day per 100 net tons, in Euros 
		
			  0 to 1,000 tons 1,001 to 10,000 tons 10,001 to 25,000 tons 25,001 tons and over 
		
		
			 Denmark 0.94 0.67 0.40 0.27 
			 Germany 0.92 0.69 0.46 0.23 
			 Ireland 1.00 0.75 0.50 0.25 
			 Netherlands 0.91 0.67 0.46 0.23 
			 Spain 0.90 0.70 0.40 0.20 
			 UK 0.90 0.68 0.45 0.23 
			 Belgium 1.00 0.60 0.40 0.20 
			 France 0.93 0.71 0.47 0.25 
			 Italy 0.90 0.70 0.40 0.20

Transport Act

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of section 124 of the Transport Act 2000; and what plans he has to review it.

Tony McNulty: While the legislation governing buses is kept under review, we have no plans for major changes to the present legislative framework. The hon. Gentleman will be aware that the Government have recently consulted stakeholders on the proposal to reduce the 21-month implementation period for bus quality contracts. We are evaluating the responses to the consultation and will be announcing the outcome shortly. We are also currently consulting stakeholders on draft guidance for local transport authorities who may be considering applying for bus quality contracts.

Transport Funding (Warrington)

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which transport projects in Warrington have received government funding since 1997.

Tony McNulty: There have been three Government funded major schemes taken forward via Warrington's Local Transport Plan and the previous Transport Policies and Programme systems.
	1. Urban Traffic Management & Control (DfT funding of £5.195 million 2001–2002—this project has incurred expenditure to date, and is ongoing.
	The following projects have yet to gain full approval from DfT, but have received provisional funding to the maximum cash figures stated:
	2. Bridgefoot bypass (£5.895million provisionally approved DfT funding 2001–02)
	3. Central Bus Interchange (£6.338 million provisionally approved DfT funding 2003–04)
	Additionally in 2002–03, Warrington borough council undertook 58 separately identifiable minor works schemes.

CABINET OFFICE

Pay Systems

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will place in the Library the most recent review of (a) his office's pay systems, (b) the pay systems of the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible and (c) the Office equal pay action plan.

Douglas Alexander: The Cabinet Office, Central Office of Information (COI) and the Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) review their pay systems on an ongoing basis as part of pay negotiations.
	The non-departmental public bodies are advisory and have no staff. Support is provided by Cabinet Office staff.
	Copies of the Cabinet Office and GCDA equal pay action plans have been placed in the Library. The COI equal pay audit did not identify any required action.

Prime Minister's Delivery Unit

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the budget for the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit was in each year since it was created.

Douglas Alexander: For actual spend figures for 2001–02 and 2002–03,1 refer the right hon. Member to the response I gave the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb) on 19 November 2003, Official Report, column 878W. The actual spend by the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit for 2003–04 was £3,576, 354. The budget for 2004–05 is £3,909,350.

Regulations (Compliance Costs)

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what his estimate is of the (a) total and (b) compliance cost of regulation in the UK as a percentage of gross domestic product.

Douglas Alexander: No estimate of these costs has been made by the Government, and to provide such estimates would incur disproportionate costs. Regulatory Impact Assessments are produced for all new regulations affecting business, charities, and the voluntary sector, for which it is a requirement that the benefits justify the costs.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Education (Budget)

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what the projected budget in the next year is for (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) further education in Northern Ireland;
	(2)  what the projected administration spending within education is in the next year;
	(3)  what the projected division in budget among the education and library boards is in the next year; and what percentage is allocated for administration within each board.

Barry Gardiner: Specific budgets for the 2005–06 financial year will be determined in light of the outcome of the Budget 2004 Spending Review.

Fuel Prices

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions he has had with Northern Ireland's petrol and oil distribution industry about the cost of fuels; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: I have had no such recent discussions. The level of prices is a commercial decision taken by the petrol and oil distribution industry. Unless there is evidence of "price fixing" Government cannot intervene in these decisions.

Heavy School Bags

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will conduct a risk assessment of the effects on school children of regularly carrying heavy school bags.

Barry Gardiner: There are no plans for a departmental risk assessment of the effects on school children of carrying heavy school bags. The weight of school bags is a local management issue, and where individual concerns are raised, responsibility to resolve the issue is shared as appropriate between the relevant school authorities, the pupils themselves, and their parents.

High Hedges

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to introduce legislation to deal with the problems associated with high hedges in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Smith: I intend to issue a consultation paper in the autumn of 2004 to obtain information on the scale of the nuisance high hedge problem and views on how this may best be addressed.
	Should this consultation indicate that the nuisance high hedge problem requires Government intervention, I will seek to bring forward detailed legislative proposals as quickly as possible.

Ministerial Air Travel

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total cost of air travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain was for (a) Ministers and (b) staff of the Northern Ireland Civil Service in the latest year for which figures are available.

Ian Pearson: The total cost of air travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain for the period 2003–04 was:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 (a) Ministers 523,730 
			 (b) Staff 4,089,340 
		
	
	The figures at (b) refer to travel by all civil servants (including Home Civil Service staff) working in the NICS and NIO.
	The figures included for NICS staff only relate to bookings made through the NICS contracted travel agency service and do not include any journeys undertaken which were booked through any other channels as this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

MOT Tests

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will take steps to authorise designated garages in Northern Ireland to carry out MOT tests.

Angela Smith: I have no plans at present to authorise garages to carry out MOT tests. Despite the current difficulties due to industrial action, the Driver & Vehicle Testing Agency has a very good track record of delivering a consistent, objective and independent service, of delivering value for money, and of meeting key targets, and each time alternative arrangements have been considered previously the conclusion has been that the existing system best serves the needs of the people of Northern Ireland.

Sewage Treatment Facilities (Sion Mills)

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many households are served by sewage treatment facilities at Sion Mills, Co. Tyrone; and what additional capacity there is in these facilities to serve future housing developments within the Sion Mills area.

John Spellar: The Chief Executive of Water Service (Mrs. Katharine Bryan) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.
	Letter from Mrs. Katharine Bryan to Mr. David Burnside
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a parliamentary question (No. 2316) about the number of households served by sewage treatment facilities in Sion Mills and the additional capacity to serve future housing developments within the Sion Mills area. The Chief Executive of Water Service was asked to respond as the issue falls within her operational responsibility, and I am replying on her behalf as she is currently on annual leave.
	The existing Sion Mills Wastewater Treatment Works serves approximately 1,100 domestic households in Sion Mills. It also serves some non-residential development. It is recognized that the existing Treatment Works does not have the capacity to deal with any significant additional loading.
	However, as part of the major investment programme aimed at improving waste water infrastructure across Northern Ireland, Water Service is planning to upgrade the Sion Mills Wastewater Treatment Works at an estimated cost of £1 million. The scheme is programmed to commence on site in April 2005 and to be completed in March 2006, subject to completion of all the statutory processes including obtaining Crown Development planning approval. The new Works will be designed to cater for future development in the Sion Mills area up to the year 2030.

Stormont

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action has been taken against the person or persons responsible for the lapse in security surrounding the breach of security at Stormont; and what security responsibilities those people still carry out.

Ian Pearson: I assume the hon. Lady is referring to the case of William Mackessy. His case is still sub judice and I cannot comment further. I can however say, as the Government have said before, that we have taken the alleged intelligence-gathering operation at Stormont very seriously. An audit of security procedures in the NIO has been carried out by the Security Service and action regarding the recommendations is under way.

Stormont

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the financial cost of the breach of security at Stormont has been to date; what the anticipated cost is; and how many people have been displaced as a result.

Ian Pearson: The cost to date of the security breach, as a result of which the personal details of 1,426 prison staff were found to be in possession of the Provisional IRA, is approximately £17 million. This is comprised of the cost of the Assisted Home Removal Scheme and the cost of security measures for those staff who decided to remain in their homes. These figures do not include the cost of the SPED Scheme operated by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.
	The anticipated cost is likely to be approximately £30 million. Some officers have still to find new permanent accommodation, not all the security work has been completed and a number of claims by staff for reparation for the stress suffered as a result of the security breach are being considered.
	454 staff moved home under the Assisted Home Removals Scheme.

Titanic Quarter

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what consultation he intends to hold, and with what organisations, in the development of the area known as the Titanic Quarter,
	(2)  what plans he has to put planning restrictions in place in the area known as the Titanic Quarter whilst development plans are being considered.

Angela Smith: There are already in place a range of planning restrictions over development the Titanic Quarter. These are contained in a variety of documents including, including the Regional Development Strategy 2025, the Belfast Harbour Local Plan 1990–2005, the Belfast Urban Area Plan 2001, and relevant Planning Policy Statements. In addition protection has given to a number of historic buildings and sites, as Listed Buildings and Scheduled Monuments.
	A specific framework for the future development of Titanic Quarter is likely to be brought forward in the Draft Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan 2015 (BMAP) which is due to be published in the autumn of 2004.
	In the run-up to its publication, all Northern Ireland Government Departments will have been consulted. Additionally, upon publication of the Plan, all interested organisations and individuals will be afforded the opportunity to make comment on any proposals contained therein in accordance with the provisions of the Planning (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.

Urban Regeneration/Community Development Grants

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give details of the weaknesses identified in the Auditor General's Report, NIA 41/03, HC 673 on the financial and monitoring control of urban regeneration and community development grants to voluntary and community bodies.

John Spellar: The Comptroller and Auditor General's report of 2002–03 identified the following weaknesses in the financial and monitoring control arrangements within the Urban Regeneration and Community Development Group:
	failure by the Department to ensure that proper tendering procedures were followed by groups, including obtaining quotations as appropriate;
	overpayment of grant by the Department due to clerical error, for example, where staff had failed to identify ineligible expenditure claimed by one group and incorrectly calculated grant due in another instance;
	failure of Department to ensure actual receipts supporting grant claims accurately matched the letter of offer analysis of expenditure;
	failure by the Department to ensure groups had physically received goods before paying grant;
	failure by the Department to ensure project progress and final evaluation reports outlining the outputs achieved against targets were received in accordance with letters of offer before paying final grant instalments; and
	instances were noted where the Department had failed to rigorously check that grant had been applied by groups as intended by letters of offer. For example, in one case grant was paid towards salary costs in respect of a post which has not yet been filled.
	To remedy the weaknesses the Department for Social Development has put in place the following:
	(i) the establishment of Business Support Units (BSU) in four of the URCDG Directorates to promote Best Practice and undertake monitoring and verification of funded projects. Best Practice is further shared throughout the Group by way of a URCDG BSU Forum;
	(ii) the introduction of enhanced monitoring in the North West Development Office by way of project visits;
	(iii) the development of a new Contract for Funding (CFF) (formerly Letter of Offer) and training of staff on the revised CFF.
	(iv) a greater focus on monitoring of expenditure and project evaluation
	Full details of the Auditor General's findings are contained in his Report which was laid

Victim Support

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made by Victim Support Northern Ireland in implementing the recommendations contained in the external review conducted by PA consultants in May 2003.

John Spellar: Victim Support Northern Ireland (VSNI) is core funded by Government to provide support, practical help and information to victims of crime in Northern Ireland. In accordance with the conditions of grant, an external review of VSNI was completed by PA Consulting in May 2003.
	In June 2003, VSNI agreed an implementation plan for the recommendations. Government has closely monitored the progress made on these recommendations through progress reports and quarterly bilateral meetings with VSNI.
	On 14 June 2004 my officials met with the Chair and Senior Management Team of VSNI to discuss in detail the progress made on the recommendations and a revised implementation plan with timescales was prepared.
	A number of recommendations have been completed and it is anticipated that over half of the 83 recommendations made should be completed by the end of 2004.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Access to Work Scheme

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to (a) increase the budget for the Access to Work Scheme and (b) advertise all elements of the scheme.

Maria Eagle: The Access to Work programme is open to disabled people already in employment (including self-employment), people changing jobs and unemployed people about to start work. It helps towards the additional employment costs resulting from disability, for example help with the costs of travelling to work, adaptations to premises and special equipment.
	Spending on the programme, together with the number of people helped has trebled since 1997. While we have no current plans to increase the budget further, funding will continue to be kept under review.
	Jobcentre Plus invests around £300,000 per year on marketing and publicising its specialised services and programmes for disabled people. Promotional material is available in a wide range of media such as leaflets, audiotapes, videos and on the Jobcentre Plus website; new leaflets about Access to Work for use at conferences and exhibitions and information are available.
	Individuals and employers can access more detailed information through Jobcentre Plus Disability Employment Advisers and Access to Work Advisers.

Benefit Payments

Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) people and (b) people aged over 50 years who made a new claim for incapacity benefit or income support with disability premium were (i) still claiming the benefit, (ii) claiming another benefit and (iii) in employment six months later in the latest period for which figures are available.

Maria Eagle: The available information is in the table.
	
		People making a new claim to incapacity benefit (IB) or awarded income support with a disability premium (ISDP),March 2002 to February 2003 -- Thousand
		
			  Status of claim six months after commencement 
			  All commencements All still receiving IB /ISDP All receiving another benefit All leaving benefit 
		
		
			 All ages 907.3 623.1 72.0 212.2 
			 Claimant aged up to and including 50 years 678.6 462.0 61.1 155.5 
			 Claimant aged over 50 years 228.7 161.1 10.9 56.7 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Caseload figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample, and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.
	2. Age is given at the point the claim commences.
	3. Income support disability premium commencements include both new/repeat claims to benefit and those persons moving into the disability premium group from another income support statistical group.
	4. Incapacity benefit figures are based on persons claiming long-term or short-term incapacity benefit, national insurance credits only cases, and those persons claiming IB but who have their benefit extinguished for reasons such as an overlap with another benefit, or because of hospitalisation.
	5. A person is counted only once in each period, regardless of the number of times they claim and subsequently leave each benefit. Only the first claim in any given period is counted, and it is that claim from which the six-month period has been calculated.
	6. Income support claims and status are based on a series of point in time sample enquiries taken in February, May, August and November of each year. These enquiries are a snapshot of live claims on the enquiry date. Claims which start and end between enquiry dates are not captured, and as such numbers of IS claims made may be underestimated.
	7. End dates of IS claims are not collected, therefore the claim end dates for IS claimants are estimated. Persons returning within six months will therefore be a six-month period from the estimated end date.
	8. Movements between ISDP and IB, and where a claim to one of these benefits terminates and a new claim is made before the six-month point, are classified as still claiming the original benefit. Movements from ISDP to another IS statistical group are classified as receiving another benefit, as the basis of entitlement may have changed.
	Source:
	DWP—IAD Information Centre, 5 per cent. samples

Blind and Partially-Sighted People

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to increase funding for rehabilitation and training programmes to meet the needs of blind and partially-sighted people.

Jane Kennedy: We have no plans to increase funding in these programmes specifically to meet the needs of blind and partially-sighted people at present.
	Our ambition is to ensure that the appropriate support mechanisms are in place to enable still more disabled people and those with health problems to move toward, access and retain employment.
	We are in the process of developing a Framework for Vocational Rehabilitation, which is expected to be published later this year. We have undertaken an extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders and have spoken at length with colleagues in the Scottish Executive and the National Assembly for Wales in order to understand how vocational rehabilitation currently works in the UK and to share thinking on the way forward.
	The framework will provide a necessary first step and platform from which to adopt a new approach to vocational rehabilitation in the UK.

Child Support

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Child Support Agency enforcement actions against non-resident parents who refuse to pay child support maintenance.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Ms Anne Campbell, dated 14 July 2004
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Child Support Agency enforcement actions against non-resident parents who refuse to pay child support maintenance.
	The Agency recognises that it must do more to improve compliance with and enforcement of maintenance calculations. In the last year they have implemented the findings of a review of their enforcement organisation and processes and made a number of improvements.
	These include the development of an enforcement policy and strategy designed to support the legislative intent; an accountability framework detailing the responsibilities of the business; and various activities to support management and staff to deliver improvements.
	These activities have brought the Agency's enforcement area to a consistent and professional level throughout the organisation, providing a solid basis for continuous improvement activity. Improvements can be seen in the tables below:
	
		Table 1
		
			  Pre review April 2001-July 2002 Post review September 2002-December 2003 Percentage improvement 
		
		
			 Liability orders 2,108 4,406 109 
			 Levy of distress (bailiff action) 2,565 3,700 44 
			 Third party debt/arrestments 115 238 107 
			 Charging orders/bill of inhibition 141 238 69 
		
	
	The enforcement sections can use any of these methods to enforce the debt and these methods can be used concurrently. The enforcement section chooses the method appropriate for the individual case.
	
		Table 2: Bailiff collections
		
			  Bailiffs 
		
		
			 Financial year end 2002–03 (£) collected 510,572 
			 Financial year end 2003–04 (£) collected 1,581,829 
			 Percentage improvement 210 
		
	
	
		Table 3: Committal action
		
			  Sentences Served 
		
		
			 2001–02 0 
			 2002–03 4 
			 2003–04 8 
		
	
	
		Table 4:Removal of driving licences
		
			  Driving licences withdrawn Driving licences suspended 
		
		
			 2001–02 0 3 
			 2002–03 1 7 
			 2003–04 1 9 
		
	
	Committal to prison or disqualification from driving is only considered after all other enforcement options have been attempted or discounted. We use these ultimate sanctions as the final lever to achieve compliance rather than as a punitive measure for those non-resident parents who will not pay.

Child Support Agency

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether attendance allowances and other allowances paid to elected members of local authorities are regarded by the Child Support Agency as income for the purpose of determining the level of child support; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Pond: In the old child support scheme, allowances paid to elected members of local authorities are taken into account as income when assessing maintenance liability. The only exception is when these allowances are payments for expenses incurred "wholly, exclusively and necessarily" in performance of their duties.
	In the new child support scheme income and allowances paid to elected members of local authorities are disregarded when calculating maintenance.

Child Support Agency

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) days have been disrupted and (b) man-hours have been lost at the Belfast Office of the Child Support Agency as a result of the current industrial action of civil servants.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. David Lidington, dated 14 July 2004
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) days have been disrupted and (b) man hours have been lost at the Belfast Office of the Child Support Agency as a result of the current industrial action of civil servants.
	Staff in Belfast are employees of the Northern Ireland Child Support Agency. They provide services, under contract, to the Child Support Agency in Great Britain. The delivery of child support services in Belfast has been partially disrupted on 8.5 days, resulting in the loss of approximately 15,000 man hours between December 2003 to April 2004. The impact on customers has been minimised by management prioritising work and directing resources accordingly.

Child Support Agency

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases handled by the Child Support Agency in Northern Ireland have been delayed as a result of the current industrial action by civil servants.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. David Lidington, dated 14 July 2004
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases handled by the Child Support Agency in Northern Ireland have been delayed as a result of the current industrial action by civil servants.
	Staff in Belfast are employees of the Northern Ireland Child Support Agency. My understanding is that managers in Northern Ireland have been able to contain the impact of the current industrial action and do not believe that cases have been delayed directly as a result of it.

Departmental Refurbishments

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the costs to his Department of refurbishments to buildings have been since 2001.

Maria Eagle: The available information is in the table.
	
		£ million
		
			  Business-related refurbishment works (non-modernisation programme) (19) Modernisation programme works (20) Total 
		
		
			 2001–02 27.483 41.517 69 
			 2002–03 25.819 274.181 300 
			 2003–04 22.932 335.068 358 
		
	
	(19) Business-related refurbishment works are ongoing, internal changes to buildings to meet developing business needs e.g. the removal of partition walls to accommodate organisational moves of staff.
	(20) Modernisation Programme works are part of a major programme funded by the Treasury to improve the way in which DWP services are delivered to the public. The physical surroundings of several of the businesses within DWP are being changed, including Jobcentre Plus, The Pensions Service and Debt Management Services. This spend is a combination of new acquisitions, major refurbishments to buildings already part of the estate, as well as the smaller, business-related refurbishment works costs. While the overall cost of the programme is known it is not possible to provide separate figures for refurbishment works.
	Note:
	Additionally, our private sector partners Land Securities Trillium are responsible for providing an on-going maintenance programme for all buildings on the estate. DWP pays for this as part of the unitary charge for the serviced accommodation it receives at each building and it is not possible to provide separate costs for this.

Disability Leave

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will introduce legislation to support disability leave for those people who develop a disability and need time away from work to adjust and learn new working methods.

Maria Eagle: Where an employee is covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), the provision of disability leave might be a reasonable adjustment for an employer to make. Therefore, we do not consider it necessary to introduce legislation to provide for statutory disability leave.
	The Code of Practice on the employment provisions of the DDA, published by the Disability Rights Commission, suggests that allowing time off during working hours for rehabilitation, assessment or treatment is likely to constitute a reasonable adjustment.

Disability Living Allowance (Scotland)

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much money was claimed in disability living allowance in Scotland in 2003–04, broken down by local authority.

Maria Eagle: The requested information is in the table.
	
		Disability living allowance: estimated expenditure for each local authority area in Scotland in 2003–04 -- £ million
		
			   Local authority Estimated disability living allowance expenditure in 2003–04 
		
		
			 Aberdeen City 26 
			 Aberdeenshire 27 
			 Angus 14 
			 Argyll and Bute 12 
			 Clackmannanshire 9 
			 Dumfries and Galloway 24 
			 Dundee City 26 
			 East Ayrshire 23 
			 East Dunbartonshire 12 
			 East Lothian 14 
			 East Renfrewshire 10 
			 City of Edinburgh 57 
			 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (previously Western Isles) 3 
			 Falkirk 25 
			 Fife 57 
			 Glasgow City 149 
			 Highland 27 
			 Inverclyde 17 
			 Midlothian 15 
			 Moray 9 
			 North Ayrshire 25 
			 North Lanarkshire 74 
			 Orkney Islands 2 
			 Perth and Kinross (previously Perthshire and Kinross) 15 
			 Renfrewshire 33 
			 The Scottish Borders 12 
			 Shetland Isles 2 
			 South Ayrshire 18 
			 South Lanarkshire 59 
			 Stirling 14 
			 West Dunbartonshire (previously Dumbarton and Clydebank) 21 
			 West Lothian 31 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures derived from the DLA caseload and expenditure in May 2003, August 2003, November 2003 and February 2004, calibrated to the estimated outturn for Great Britain in 2003–04 and rounded to the nearest £ million.

In-patients (Benefit Payments)

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  why the level of benefit payable to in-patients who have been in hospital for more than a year is set at 20 per cent. of the basic state pension;
	(2)  what reviews of the level of benefit payable to long-term in-patients have been conducted since it was first set at 20 per cent. of the basic state pension; and what the findings were;
	(3)  what assessment was made of the (a) therapeutic and (b) financial needs of in-patients who have been in hospital over a year when the decision to maintain the level of benefit entitlement at 20 per cent. of the basic state pension was taken; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what research he has commissioned on the (a) economic and (b) therapeutic effects of setting the level of benefit payable to long-term in-patients at 20 per cent. of the basic state pension.

Malcolm Wicks: The National Insurance Advisory Committee (NIAC) originally considered the amount of benefit that should be paid to long-term in-patients in 1949. Although they said that there would be grounds for withholding the whole of benefit because no allowance should be paid for outside commitments, they thought it desirable that benefit should not be reduced below "a reasonable amount for personal needs in hospital". They recommended an amount which was roughly 20 per cent. of the standard rate of state pension. (A higher rate was set for long-term in-patients with respiratory tuberculosis.)
	When asked to review the amount of benefit paid to in-patients in 1952, the NIAC recommended that the amount paid to long-term in-patients should be increased to reflect increases in the cost of living. This increased amount continued to represent 20 per cent. of the prevailing rate of state pension.
	Changes were introduced in 1988 to abolish the resettlement benefit payable to long-term in-patients without a dependant on discharge, and to reduce the amount payable to dependants of long-term in-patients. The Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC), when considering those changes, said that they had received several representations that the level of benefit paid to long-term in-patients (that is, the 20 per cent. of basic state pension) was too low to meet their needs. SSAC said that they had seen no evidence to convince them that the level of benefit should be raised.
	The benefit paid to long-term in-patients is to meet their personal day-to-day requirements, such as newspapers, magazines, and toiletry items. It is not intended to cover the purchase of more expensive items such as clothing. That is the responsibility of the local NHS trust.
	We have seen no convincing evidence that the current level of benefit is causing long-term in-patients either therapeutic or economic harm.

Mortgage Protection Insurance

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research he has commissioned on the proportion of home owners who have mortgage protection insurance against the risk of unemployment.

Chris Pond: The Department jointly commissioned research on mortgage safety-nets and the take-up of different forms of mortgage protection with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Association of British Insurers in 2002.
	The research was undertaken by the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York, and the results were published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in April 2004. The research report is entitled "Homeowners Risk and Safety Nets: Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance (MPPI) and beyond" and is available in the Library.

Parliamentary Questions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will answer question number 177435 regarding vulnerable customers (payments by cheque), tabled by the hon. Member for Northavon on 27 May.

Malcolm Wicks: A reply was given to the hon. Member on 12 July.

Parliamentary Questions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will answer question number 177395 regarding girocheque payments, tabled by the hon. Member for Northavon on 27 May.

Chris Pond: An answer was given to the hon. Member on 12 July.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Accountancy Advice

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many contracts have been let by his Department in each financial year since 2001–02 to (a) PriceWaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte and Touche, (c) KPMG and (d) Ernst & Young for advising his Department on private finance initiative and public private partnership contracts; and what fees were paid in each case.

David Miliband: DfES let two contracts totalling £92,438 in 2001–02 and one contract totalling £18,620 in 2002–03 to PriceWaterhouseCoopers in respect of advice concerning private finance initiative and public private partnership issues.
	In 2003–04, three contracts totalling £243,285 were let to KPMG in respect of advice concerning private finance initiative and public private partnership issues.

Bullying

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the average number of school days missed per pupil per year as a result of bullying in the Vale of York in each of the past three years.

David Miliband: The department only collects the numbers of sessions missed due to authorised and unauthorised absence, and not the reasons why they are missed.

Classroom Assistants

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the impact of the proposed introduction of single status on the pay and conditions of classroom teaching assistants; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether local education authorities will guarantee the existing pay and conditions of teaching assistants following the introduction of single status for council employees; and if he will make a statement.

Charles Clarke: Pay and contractual arrangements of school support staff are matters for local determination: the Government believes that this is the best way of ensuring a flexible system that can respond to local needs and circumstances. Many local authorities are reviewing school support staff pay in the light of the agreement—commonly known as the Single Status Agreement—made in 1997 by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services. Local government pay negotiations between employers and Trade Unions will have taken into account the progress of equal pay and pay reviews. Consultation on the 2004 pay proposals is ongoing.

Departmenal Staff

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people have left employment in his Department because of (a) anxiety, (b) stress, (c) depression and (d) other mental health reasons in each year since 1997.

Charles Clarke: My Department remains committed to providing a safe working environment and has put in place a range of measures to support managers and employees on health and welfare issues, including the provision of professional counselling, awareness sessions and support from the Department's welfare provider, Care First. This is complemented by internal procedures aimed at ensuring consistent standards of behaviour and enabling fair and prompt mediation in the event of any grievance.
	My Department does not maintain records centrally of staff leaving the Department on the basis of anxiety, stress, depression, or other mental health reasons. However, I can confirm that no medical retirement certificates were issued for reasons of "mental disorder" for staff in my Department over the past four years and we have no record of any such retirements prior to that date since 1997.

Departmental Accounting Practice

Richard Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills who the Finance Director of (a) the Department and (b) the Office for Standards in Education is; what accountancy qualifications each Director holds; and on how many occasions there has been a qualified opinion on (i) the resource accounts and (ii) other accounts of each in the last five years.

Charles Clarke: The Finance Director for the Department for Education and Skills, appointed in January 2004, is Stephen Kershaw. He does not hold a professional accountancy qualification. The Head of the Department's Financial Accounting Division, who reports to Stephen Kershaw, is a fully qualified accountant (FCCA, ACMA).
	During the four year period covering the financial years 1999–2000 to 2002–03 for which accounts have been published, the DfES Resource Accounts were qualified in two years. The qualifications related to the following accounts:
	In 2000–01 the Teachers' Pensions Scheme Resource Account received a technical qualification due to a limitation of the scope of the audit. This same issue resulted in the qualification of the cash based Teachers' Superannuation Appropriation Accounts.
	In 2001–02 the DfES Resource Accounts were qualified as a result of the allegations of fraud and irregular payments under the Individual Learning Accounts programme. In the same year the Teachers' Pensions Resource Account was qualified because expenditure exceeded the budget by 0.98 per cent. as a result of late changes in accounting policies.
	The Office for Standards in Education's (Ofsted) Director of Strategy and Resources, Robert Green, is currently designated Finance Director. He does not hold an accountancy qualification. Ofsted's Senior Civil Service level Head of Finance reports to the Director, Strategy and Resources, and holds the FCMA qualification.
	Ofsted's Resource Accounts for 2002–03 were qualified in relation to a resource overspend of 1 per cent. No other accounts have been qualified in the past five years.
	The audit opinion on the DfES and Ofsted 2003–04 Resource Accounts will be available later in the year.

E-learning Credits

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations he has received about the use of e-learning credits for purchasing hardware and computer peripherals.

Charles Clarke: holding answer 12 July 2004
	There have been a range of representations from individuals, schools, education authorities and from industry. The majority have been supportive of the policy for e-learning credits (eLCs) to provide schools with £330 million (2002–06) for the purchase of high quality digital learning materials. Some have argued, however, that there should be more flexibility over what eLCs can be used to purchase, but many believe it is too early to change the eligibility guidance.
	We are therefore continuing discussions about the future of eLCs and keeping the funding criteria under constant review.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will extend the education maintenance allowance to all full-time 16 to 19-year-old students regardless of family income.

Ivan Lewis: We have no plans to do so. We are targeting EMA on young people who most need help to overcome financial barriers. Paying EMA to all young people in further education would increase the costs of the scheme by more than £220 million every year from when the scheme is fully rolled out.

Education Statements

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much Gloucestershire county council has spent on statementing children in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available; what the figures are for other shire counties; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: holding answer 23 April 2004
	The Department began collecting this information only in the 2004–05 financial year. The budget data for this year is being validated currently. I will write again to the hon. Member once this data is available.

Education Statistics (London)

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent on supply teachers by (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in each London borough in each year since 1997; and what the average figures for a local education authority in England were in each year.

David Miliband: The information is available for the 2002–03 financial year only and is contained within the following table:
	
		Expenditure on supply teachers in primary and secondary schools in London LEAs in 2002–03 -- £000
		
			  Amount spent on supply teachers 
			  Primary Secondary 
		
		
			 Barking/Dagenham 4,125 2,304 
			 Barnet 2,868 2,445 
			 Bexley 3,481 2,985 
			 Brent 3,016 2,101 
			 Bromley 2,816 1,363 
			 Camden 1,839 1,474 
			 Croydon 3,561 2,305 
			 Ealing 3,281 2,292 
			 Enfield 3,890 3,255 
			 Greenwich 4,040 2,645 
			 Hackney 4,941 1,961 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 1,680 1,172 
			 Haringey 3,341 2,155 
			 Harrow 2,967 1,579 
			 Havering 2,592 2,413 
			 Hillingdon 2,834 2,783 
			 Hounslow 3,586 2,621 
			 Islington 3,841 2,157 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 1,287 881 
			 Kingston 1,143 724 
			 Lambeth 3,671 2,046 
			 Lewisham 3,198 1,976 
			 Merton 2,486 1,193 
			 Newham 8,518 4,614 
			 Redbridge 2,364 1,680 
			 Richmond 1,147 1,463 
			 Southwark 5,358 1,983 
			 Sutton 1,982 1,101 
			 Tower hamlets 7,267 2,823 
			 Waltham Forest 4,143 2,508 
			 Wandsworth 2,335 1,051 
			 Westminster 2,176 2,353 
			 England average (mean) 3,172 2,110 
		
	
	Notes:
	Consistent Financial Reporting 2002–03, calculated by summing the fields E02 (supply teaching staff employed directly by the school), E10 (Supply teacher insurance) and E26 (Agency supply teaching staff) minus I10 (Receipts from supply teacher insurance claims).

Entrepreneurship Training

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what efforts his Department is making to enhance entrepreneurship skills training in UK schools.

Charles Clarke: 171 Enterprise Pathfinder projects were approved to start during 2003–04, embracing nearly 500 secondary schools. A further 87 Pathfinders have just been approved, such that a total of over 700 secondary schools will be involved from this September. The new Enterprise Adviser service is working alongside head teachers in almost 1,000 schools in the most disadvantaged areas. All of this effort is leading to the production of national guidance to show schools the most effective ways of teaching enterprise. From September 2005 new funding of £60 million per annum will support a new focus on enterprise education in secondary schools. In particular the new resources will allow for an Enterprise Education entitlement to provide all Key Stage 4 pupils with the equivalent of five days' enterprise activity, which develops enterprise capability—innovation, creativity, risk-management and risk-taking, and financial and business understanding.

Exam Pass Marks

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what changes there have been to pass marks in (a) GCSEs and (b) A levels since 1997.

David Miliband: Responsibility for the marking and grading of examinations in England lies with the three Unitary Awarding Bodies. The awarding bodies are regulated by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and are accountable to the QCA for their performance which includes fulfilling the obligations placed on them by a Code of Practice. The code requires awarding bodies to follow common mechanisms for marking and awarding grades. Ken Boston, the Chief Executive of QCA will write to the hon. Member providing details of the mechanisms for marking and awarding grades since 1997 and a copy of the letter and the Code of Practice will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

FE Colleges

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students were offered places in further education colleges for 2003–04; how many students took up places at further education colleges in 2003–04; and how many students dropped out of further education colleges during the academic year 2003–04.

Alan Johnson: Information on the number of people offered places by further education colleges is not held centrally. The numbers of learners on Learning and Skills Council (LSC) funded Further Education (FE) provision are shown in the statistical first release (SFR) series, "Further Education and Work Based Learning for Young People—Learner Numbers in England", published in the LSC website: http://www.lsc.gov.uk/National/Documents/SubjectListing/SectorData/ StatisticalFirstReleases/default.htm.
	As the academic year has not yet ended, learner numbers for the whole of 2003/04 are not available. However, at 1 November 2003, 2.15 million learners were enrolled on LSC funded FE provision (Source: ILR/SFR03). The corresponding figure for November 2002 was 2.18 million and for 2002/03 as a whole there was a total of 3.91 million learners enrolled on LSC funded FE (Source: ILR/SFR02).
	Learner outcomes data (success, retention and achievement rates) in LSC funded FE are published in the LSC SFR series "Further Education and Work Based Learning for Young People—Learner Outcomes in England", also available on the LSC website. Retention data for 2003/04 are not yet available. However, in 2002/03, the overall retention rate in LSC funded FE was 83 per cent. (Source: ILR/SFR04).

FE Colleges

Candy Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether all further education colleges in the Devon and Cornwall Learning Skills Council region have received their funding allocation for 2004–05; and how many of these allocations were received (a) before and (b) after 31 May.

Alan Johnson: The Department allocates funds for education and training in the post-16 learning and skills sector to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The timing of funding allocations to colleges is an operational matter and is the responsibility of the LSC. Mark Haysom, the LSC's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Member with this information and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

FE Colleges

Candy Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether all people in the Devon and Cornwall Learning Skills Council region who wish to study for a basic skills qualification in a further education college in academic year 2004–05 are guaranteed a place; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council. I have therefore asked Mark Haysom, the Council's Chief Executive, to write to the hon. Lady with the information requested and to place a copy of his reply in the Library.

HEIF2

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the budget is for the HEIF2; and what the criteria will be for applying for funding.

Alan Johnson: HEIF is a jointly funded programme by OST and DfES. The total budget for HEIF2 is £187 million for years 2004–05 and 2005–06. The DfES share is £56 million.
	All higher education institutions funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England were eligible to apply for funding to support activities which will increase their capability to respond to the needs of business (including companies of all sizes and sectors, and other bodies in the wider community), where this will lead to identifiable economic benefits. The detailed application process for HEIF2 is contained in the guidance document published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Higher Education

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of students in higher education come from families where the household income is (a) under £10,000, (b) between £10,001 and £20,000, (c) between £20,001 and £30,000, (d) between £30,001 and £50,000 and (e) above £50,000.

Alan Johnson: Data are not available centrally in the format requested.
	However, limited data are available which show that of those students eligible for student support, 85 per cent. are dependent students, of which, 35 per cent. have a parental residual income of less than £20,480; 17 per cent. have a parental residual income between £20,480 and £30,501; and 48 per cent. have a parental residual income of £30,502 or more.
	Similarly, independent students eligible for student support account for 15 per cent. of the overall student population, of which, 88 per cent. have a spouse/partner residual income of less than £17,615; 4 per cent. have a spouse/partner residual income between £17,615 and £26,055; and 8 per cent. have a spouse/partner residual income of £26,045 or more.
	These figures are for the Academic Year 2002/03 and are the latest available outturn. They are one of the data sources that have been used to produce forecasts of the percentage of students likely to receive the grants being introduced in 2004/05 and 2006/07. These forecasts also take into account the changes to the income definition used in the means test from 2004/05.

Higher Education

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the percentage of young people entering higher education in (a) 2005 and (b) 2006.

Alan Johnson: Estimates of the percentage of young people entering higher education in 2005 and 2006 are not available.
	The planned number of student places is set during spending reviews in the light of the Government's target of increasing participation in higher education towards 50 per cent. of those aged 17 to 30 by the end of the decade. Planned student numbers for 2005–06 to 2007–08 will be set as part of the current spending review.

Independent/State Sector Co-operation

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how the funds allocated to increase co-operation between independent and state schools will be spent.

David Miliband: Most of the £1.6 million funding for the current year has already been allocated, with 46 new partnerships sharing £1.4 million over the next two years. In addition, 30 of the 47 partnerships awarded funding in 2003 will continue to receive some support. The remaining budget will be used to provide a low level of continuing support for a number of more established partnerships; pilot new developments; and evaluate the effectiveness of the scheme.
	In 2005–06 the budget for the scheme will rise to £2 million, and will be similarly distributed.

Medical Student Admissions

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding he is providing to universities for the 2004–05 academic year to enable them to admit medical students with an A-level points score of under three C grades; which universities are in receipt of such funding under the improved retention scheme; and how many students will be admitted as a result.

Alan Johnson: The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is allocating £159 million for the 2004–05 academic year to institutions to improve retention of full-time students based on the students' profile and an assessment of the risks of students failing to complete their studies. The institutions set out as follows are receiving part of their funding from this exercise as a result of the recent profile of their medical students.
	Across these institutions, £21,950 in additional funding was allocated on the basis of an estimate of around 80 full-time medical students on courses leading to registration with the General Medical Council and subsequent practice as a doctor who are under 21 years of age with a point score of less than the equivalent of three Cs at A-level.
	University of Bath
	University of Birmingham
	University of Bristol
	University of Cambridge
	University of Durham
	University of Leeds
	University of Leicester
	University of Liverpool
	Imperial College
	Kings College London
	Queen Mary, University of London
	St. George's Hospital Medical School
	University College, London
	University of Manchester
	University of Newcastle
	University of Nottingham
	University of Oxford
	University of Sheffield
	University of Southampton
	University of Warwick

Overseas Students

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average length of time of study was for overseas students in UK universities in the last period for which figures are available.

Alan Johnson: Latest figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) show that, in 2002/03, the estimated average length of study of full-time overseas students at UK HE Institutions was three years for undergraduates, and just under two years for postgraduates.

Partnership for Schools

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost of the Partnership for Church of England Schools was to his Department in the last financial year.

David Miliband: £780,550 was paid in the last financial year as investment in the company. DfES also made a grant of £20,834 towards the cost of a local Diocesan Scheme Manager in one of the regions covered by the first group of projects.

Partnership for Schools

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people are to be employed by Partnership for Schools; and what progress has been made in their recruitment.

David Miliband: It is envisaged that Partnerships for Schools will employ 50 to 60 staff. Most of these will be employees, although some will be secondees from public and private sectors.
	The process for recruiting the chair, members of the board and chief executives is currently in progress. Interviews and decisions on various other senior posts below this level are also being finalised. These recruitments are all being undertaken in accordance with the Nolan rules.
	Further recruitment will be undertaken by Partnerships for Schools under the guidance of the DfES Recruitment Team, taking into account the requirements of the Gershon and Lyons reviews. Processes to deal with this have been set up.

Pay Systems

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will place in the Library the most recent review of (a) his Department's pay systems, (b) the pay systems of the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible and (c) the departmental equal pay action plan.

Charles Clarke: In 2003, my Department agreed a three-year pay settlement to 2005 that completes the pay modernisation identified by the Department's review of gender pay equality. My officials have produced a report about this review and are in the process of discussing the findings and action taken with the Cabinet Office. Once discussions are concluded, we will place a copy of the report in the Library of the House. The annual accounts of all Non-Departmental Public Bodies, including general information on pay, are place in the Library of the House.

Post-school Education

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of pupils went on to (a) university education, (b) a further education college and (c) vocational courses from each local education authority area in the last year for which figures are available.

David Miliband: Tables showing (a) latest information on the proportion of 18-year-olds entering Higher Education and (b) the percentages of 16-year-olds participating in education and training will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
	The HE figures show the proportion of students who gain places in HE at age 18, and so will not include those who enter at 19 or over. This participation measure differs from the HE Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR), which measures progress towards the Government's aim of having 50 per cent. participation of 17 to 30-year-olds in HE by 2010. The latest HEIPR figure for 2002–03 is 44 per cent., but it is not calculated at LEA level.
	The percentage of young people participating in full-time education in further education colleges is the sum of participation in sixth form colleges and other FE colleges.
	A breakdown by type of course is not available by LEA. Work-based learning programmes include vocational courses. Participation in full and part-time education will also include learners on vocational courses.
	Many young people participating in full-time education at age 16 and 17 go on to higher education at 18 so will appear in both the HE and participation in education and training figures.
	There were additional entrants at older ages in education and training but data on this group of people are not available.

Private Finance Initiative

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what contingency plans his Department has in place should a major contractor under a private finance initiative schools contract become bankrupt or otherwise unable to maintain its contractual obligations; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: Most PFI deals involve stand-alone special purpose vehicles (SPVs) with other investors and contractors, plus bank financing. It is a usual feature of PFI projects that the banks have the opportunity to step in and find a new contractor in the event of insolvency and we would expect the banks to do this. My Department is not party to schools PFI contracts; these are between the local authority and the relevant consortium. Officials are ready to assist and advise local authorities if this should prove necessary.

Pupil Funding

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what he expects the per pupil funding level to be for (a) schools, (b) sixth forms and (c) further education colleges in the Greater Manchester Learning and Skills council region in (i) 2004–05, (ii) 2006–06 and (iii) 2006–07.

David Miliband: The total funding per pupil for schools in cash terms for 2004–05 in the Greater Manchester LSC area is £3,960.
	The Further Education funding system is different from schools. Funding is paid for learning aims as well as an entitlement per 16–18 payment. Under the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC's) funding formula the basic cost to the public purse of delivering three A-levels in a sixth form college and a further education college to a student in the 2004–05 academic year will be £3,045. This figure comprises £766 for the delivery of each A-level learning aim, and £747 for each student for the entitlement element of their learning programme. Under the LSC's funding formula the basic cost to the public purse of delivering three A-levels to a student at an English maintained secondary school will be £3,212. This figure comprises £785 for the delivery of each A-level learning aim, £750 for each student for the entitlement element of their learning programme, and £107 for each student to meet additional employers1 contributions to teachers1 pensions.
	These figures do not represent all funding that colleges and sixth forms receive and are not directly comparable. For example the further education funding rates include consolidated funds for pay and staff training that are not reflected in the school sixth form rates. Also, in each case additional funding may also be available to take account of the higher costs of delivering learning in particular geographical areas, in higher cost subjects, or to students with particular disadvantages or individual needs.
	The LSC has yet to publish its rates for 2005–06 and 2006–07 is yet to be announced.
	Notes:
	1. 2004–05 figures are provisional estimates as some grants have not yet been finalised/audited and will be changing in the near future so please pass on this warning.
	2. Figures reflect education Standard Spending Assessment/Education Formula Spending settlement (all sub-blocks). Total funding also includes all revenue grants in DfES
	departmental Expenditure Limits relevant to Education Formula Spending pupils aged 3 to19.
	3. Figures exclude Education Maintenance Allowances and grants not allocated at LEA level
	4. The pupil numbers used are those underlying the Standard Spending Assessment/Education Formula Spending settlement calculations plus PLASC three year olds maintained pupils and estimated three to four year olds funded through state support in maintained and other educational institutions where these are not included in the Standard Spending Assessment pupil numbers.
	5. Per pupil figures are rounded to the nearest £10 so may not sum.

Pupil Referral Units

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the Answer of 14 June 2004, Official Report, column 785W, on pupil referral units, for what reasons the separate identification of costs of pupil referral units ended in 2002–03; and what the costs of pupil referral units were for (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02 as set out in the s52 returns of local education authorities.

David Miliband: holding answer 21 June 2004
	The way in which the Department collected s52 outturn data changed fundamentally in the 2002–03 financial year to align with the Consistent Financial Reporting Framework.
	Local authority and other interests were fully consulted on the change. The costs of pupil referral units for 2000–01 and 2001–02 are contained in the following table:
	
		
			  Net expenditure on pupil referral units (£) 
		
		
			 LEA name 2001–02 2002–03 
			 Barking and Dagenham 256,353 626,962 
			 Barnet 956,861 934,820 
			 Barnsley 72,859 295,560 
			 Bath and NE Somerset 0 41,187 
			 Bedfordshire 1,012,918 1,045,613 
			 Bexley 979,000 1,084,000 
			 Birmingham 4,335,165 4,164,667 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 1,136,576 1,237,415 
			 Blackpool 502,225 489,145 
			 Bolton 171,381 346,056 
			 Bournemouth 104,501 371,249 
			 Bracknell Forest 293,967 291,052 
			 Bradford 990,625 1,631,910 
			 Brent 442,000 515,000 
			 Brighton and Hove 444,661 110,016 
			 Bristol City of 289,064 414,649 
			 Bromley 639,494 894,100 
			 Buckinghamshire 1,226,200 1,377,614 
			 Bury 824,163 1,008,091 
			 Calderdale 218,638 164,984 
			 Cambridgeshire 524,973 150,668 
			 Camden 1,107,332 1,220,402 
			 Cheshire 0 0 
			 Cornwall 0 0 
			 Coventry 89,467 156,490 
			 Croydon 2,027,317 2,564,666 
			 Cumbria 1,293,660 1,641,913 
			 Darlington 239,990 318,678 
			 Derby 834,467 728,655 
			 Derbyshire 884,583 957,168 
			 Devon 253,395 400,287 
			 Doncaster 795,013 788,753 
			 Dorset 563,044 500,604 
			 Dudley 652,011 769,193 
			 Durham 323,250 210,292 
			 Ealing 761,002 978,222 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 345,197 334,145 
			 East Sussex 550,636 408,799 
			 Enfield 400,301 626,091 
			 Essex 1,546,136 1,792,334 
			 Gateshead 416,110 403,704 
			 Gloucestershire 545,872 491,646 
			 Greenwich 2,135,410 2,277,670 
			 Hackney 869,833 662,789 
			 Halton 0 5,212 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 906,197 1,082,802 
			 Hampshire 2,153,000 2,499,000 
			 Haringey 482,202 574,753 
			 Harrow 214,632 283,144 
			 Hartlepool 276,309 399,758 
			 Havering 499,246 541,237 
			 Herefordshire 372,080 572,935 
			 Hertfordshire 1,680,195 1,642,390 
			 Hillingdon 367,764 338,100 
			 Hounslow 754,546 631,232 
			 Isle of Wight 119,539 0 
			 Islington 989,084 750,304 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 874,764 796,707 
			 Kent 5,134,626 4,845,332 
			 Kingston upon Hull City of 1,179,173 1,322,601 
			 Kingston upon Thames 355,398 221,861 
			 Kirklees 548,100 500,900 
			 Knowsley 233,316 247,729 
			 Lambeth 1,015,941 1,247,195 
			 Lancashire 4,258,278 3,901,387 
			 Leeds 1,405,145 1,165,380 
			 Leicester 0 475,649 
			 Leicestershire 0 0 
			 Lewisham 1,006,651 1,429,900 
			 Lincolnshire 1,308,411 1,276,954 
			 Liverpool 771,441 943,220 
			 Luton 351,769 295,017 
			 Manchester 231,172 186,304 
			 Medway 1,059,800 980,964 
			 Merton 0 0 
			 Middlesbrough 0 0 
			 Milton Keynes 177,626 256,980 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 467,138 510,329 
			 Newham 1,075,281 633,297 
			 Norfolk 1,531,306 1,646,478 
			 North East Lincolnshire 421,680 574,988 
			 North Lincolnshire 483,095 698,913 
			 North Somerset 219,807 461,158 
			 North Tyneside 339,754 365,134 
			 North Yorkshire 479,691 485,199 
			 Northamptonshire 1,427,146 1,372,747 
			 Northumberland 264,279 219,583 
			 Nottingham 580,455 597,443 
			 Nottinghamshire 679,357 623,335 
			 Oldham 0 0 
			 Oxfordshire 908,462 1,022,319 
			 Peterborough 590,477 472 
			 Plymouth 656,295 812,111 
			 Poole 75,635 343,022 
			 Portsmouth 491,975 618,188 
			 Reading 189,380 228,431 
			 Redbridge 316,385 339,324 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 331,701 362,830 
			 Richmond upon Thames 0 1,611 
			 Rochdale 0 0 
			 Rotherham 874,830 709,279 
			 Rutland 0 0 
			 Salford 354,695 312,637 
			 Sandwell 1,146,499 1,156,454 
			 Sefton 669,060 640,528 
			 Sheffield 716,861 1,253,769 
			 Shropshire 52,883 55,663 
			 Slough 167,947 328,348 
			 Solihull 323,000 420,304 
			 Somerset 696,095 807,046 
			 South Gloucestershire 542,000 889,388 
			 South Tyneside 625,044 729,054 
			 Southampton 1,447,118 1,723,526 
			 Southend-on-Sea 0 0 
			 Southwark 1,506,381 1,720,783 
			 St. Helens 716,680 689,798 
			 Staffordshire 1,238,656 586,574 
			 Stockport 829,142 811,183 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 522,559 670,245 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 189,033 187,119 
			 Suffolk 1,418,739 1,854,077 
			 Sunderland 923,148 933,872 
			 Surrey 2,843,848 2,606,503 
			 Sutton 226,672 272,049 
			 Swindon 647,876 770,853 
			 Tameside 241,356 215,322 
			 Telford and Wrekin 108,705 129,289 
			 Thurrock 416,119 415,650 
			 Torbay 230,413 266,164 
			 Tower Hamlets 1,743,959 1,504,112 
			 Trafford 0 0 
			 Wakefield 1,167,222 1,156,335 
			 Walsall 56,074 47,424 
			 Waltham Forest 206,822 144,893 
			 Wandsworth 886,355 973,369 
			 Warrington 0 0 
			 Warwickshire 1,173,830 1,421,026 
			 West Berkshire 267,912 366,435 
			 West Sussex 637,617 906,926 
			 Westminster 0 0 
			 Wigan 0 0 
			 Wiltshire 821,864 725,843 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 161,598 339,507 
			 Wirral 563,918 615,679 
			 Wokingham 0 0 
			 Wolverhampton 1,161,935 1,295,038 
			 Worcestershire 1,361,711 1,397,978 
			 York 21,057 425,032 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The financial data are taken from local education authorities' Section 52 Outturn Statements (Table 1) submitted to the DfES.
	2. Includes all expenditure on the provision of education at Pupil Referral Units (as defined in section 19 of the Education Act 1996).
	3. Includes all School Standards Grant income and expenditure in relation to Pupil Referral Units.

School Building

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what indication he has given to local education authorities of the capital allocations available to schools that are not participating in Pathfinder or Phase 1 of Building Schools for the Future.

Ivan Lewis: All authorities and schools have now been given details of their allocation of capital for 2005–06, with the exception of the relatively small Targeted Capital Fund where we aim to make announcements in the autumn. We will also hope to announce details in the autumn of the major capital funding programmes for authorities and schools for the 2004 spending review period to 2007–08, in line with government policy to give authorities three-year certainty on 85 per cent. of their funding so that they can plan strategically to invest to achieve greater value for money.

School Building

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 17 May 2004, Official Report, column 710W, on schools (capital investment), what the capital budget is for (a) the pathfinder phase and (b) wave one of Building Schools for the Future.

Ivan Lewis: There is not a separate budget for the pathfinder projects. They and the other projects announced in February are all part of wave one, due to start in 2005–06, and which has an overall budget of £2.2 million.

School Finance

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the 20 local authorities that received the lowest amount from public funds on average per child for the education of school age children in 2003–04.

David Miliband: The information requested is contained within the following table:
	
		The 20 LEAs with the lowest total funding per pupilaged 3 to15 years for 2003–04 -- £
		
			 LEA Total funding per pupil 
		
		
			 Bath and North East Somerset 3,310 
			 Cheshire 3,310 
			 Derbyshire 3,350 
			 Dorset 3,320 
			 Dudley 3,340 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 3,330 
			 Gloucestershire 3,370 
			 Leicestershire 3,200 
			 North Somerset 3,360 
			 Nottinghamshire 3,330 
			 Poole 3,270 
			 Solihull 3,370 
			 South Gloucestershire 3,220 
			 Staffordshire 3,260 
			 Stockport 3,330 
			 Suffolk 3,340 
			 Swindon 3,380 
			 Warrington 3,260 
			 Worcestershire 3,270 
			 York 3,270 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures reflect Education Formula Spending Share (EFSS) settlement (all sub-blocks). Total funding also includes all revenue grants in DfES Departmental Expenditure Limits relevant to EFSS pupils aged 3 to 15.
	2. Education Formula Spending Shares give all local education authorities the same funding for equivalent pupils plus top-ups for deprivation, for the higher costs of recruiting and retaining staff in some areas, and for sparsity. DfES grants are mainly distributed to LEAs on a per pupil/per school basis with some weighting to take account of relative deprivation or low attainment where that reflects the grant objectives.
	3. Figures exclude EMAs and grants not allocated at LEA level.
	4. The pupil numbers used are those underlying the EFSS settlement calculations plus Pupil Level Annual School Censors 3-year-olds maintained pupils and estimated 3 to 4-year-olds funded through state support in maintained and other educational institutions where these are not included in the SSA pupil numbers.
	5. 2003–04 figures are provisional as some grants have not yet been finalised/audited.
	6. Per pupil figures are rounded to the nearest 10 so may not sum.

School Leavers (Greater London)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  which local education authority in Greater London had the highest number of school leavers attending university in each year since 1996; and what percentage this represented of the (a) total number of school leavers and (b) total number of school leavers in that local education authority;
	(2)  which local education authority in Greater London had the highest number of people attending university in each year since 1996;
	(3)  how many people attended university from (a) Greater London and (b) each local education authority in Greater London in each year since 1997; and what percentage this represents of the number of school leavers.

Alan Johnson: The available information is taken from the Universities and Colleges Admissions service (UCAS) and covers 18-year-old applicants accepted through UCAS to full-time first degree and HND courses. Figures are given in the tables.
	
		Table 1: English domiciled applicants accepted for entry to HE through UCAS
		
			  Year of entry 
			 LEA 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Barking 292 481 497 517 517 592 714 724 
			 Barnet 2,325 2,653 2,643 2,643 2,727 2,809 2,870 2,768 
			 Bexley 801 897 926 817 961 990 1,032 1,091 
			 Brent 2,027 2,288 2,176 2,387 2,444 2,415 2,479 2,387 
			 Bromley 1,446 1,696 1,688 1,638 1,714 1,807 1,849 1,794 
			 Camden 1,383 1,296 1,167 1,139 1,252 1,266 1,218 1,254 
			 City of London 44 25 38 72 59 104 128 223 
			 Croydon 1,869 1,969 1,903 2,011 2,224 2,200 2,194 2,331 
			 Ealing 1,823 2,161 2,130 2,337 2,378 2,476 2,600 2,433 
			 Enfield 1,605 1,805 1,687 1,780 1,768 1,884 1,981 1,959 
			 Greenwich 945 1,019 989 1,021 1,049 1,233 1,129 1,373 
			 Hackney 867 1,249 1,174 1,229 1,246 1,386 1,374 1,321 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 870 963 849 876 886 967 970 977 
			 Haringey 1,300 1,565 1,550 1,535 1,541 1,546 1,549 1,636 
			 Harrow 1,709 1,875 1,841 1,999 2,025 2,131 2,173 2,234 
			 Havering 747 836 796 844 859 914 832 855 
			 Hillingdon 1,049 1,192 1,231 1,219 1,315 1,389 1,538 1,548 
			 Hounslow 1,291 1,415 1,429 1,424 1,635 1,560 1,610 1,635 
			 Islington 662 976 961 973 1,063 1,053 1,028 1,087 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 922 1,041 925 960 958 980 983 910 
			 Kingston Upon Thames 876 938 948 945 996 1,113 1,191 1,162 
			 Lambeth 1,387 1,577 1,511 1,591 1,628 1,794 1,836 1,808 
			 Lewisham 1,096 1,370 1,291 1,295 1,428 1,511 1,545 1,614 
			 Merton 1,158 1,144 1,048 1,157 1,149 1,201 1,241 1,260 
			 Newham 1,235 1,625 1,689 1,948 1,938 2,191 2,127 2,194 
			 Redbridge 1,581 1,708 1,705 1,731 1,931 2,061 2,187 2,169 
			 Richmond Upon Thames 1,035 1,237 1,306 1,216 1,170 1,278 1,207 1,268 
			 Southwark 1,165 1,375 1,394 1,501 1,476 1,607 1,758 1,779 
			 Sutton 855 935 914 907 957 1,024 1,096 1,053 
			 Tower Hamlets 768 810 865 949 1,085 1,158 1199 1,201 
			 Waltham Forest 1,031 1,322 1,295 1,322 1,379 1,473 1,527 1,555 
			 Wandsworth 988 1,550 1,484 1,509 1,474 1,559 1,544 1,568 
			 Westminster 783 1,110 1,082 1,029 1,033 1,082 1,157 1,025 
			 Total Greater London(21) 37,935 44,103 43,132 44,521 46,265 48,754 49,866 50,196 
		
	
	(21) Figures exclude those domiciles of unknown LEA
	Source:
	Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS)
	
		Table 2: Percentage of 18-year-olds accepted for entry to HE through UCAS
		
			  Year of entry 
			 LEA 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Barking 6.1 10.2 9.8 9.4 10.3 11.4 13.6 12.9 
			 Barnet 30.1 32.1 30.5 28.7 30.1 31.9 32.3 30.4 
			 Bexley 18.3 17.3 18.8 15.9 18.1 18.3 20.3 19.8 
			 Brent 23.2 26.5 25.6 28.4 29.2 30.7 34.2 29.9 
			 Bromley 26.5 27.0 27.5 27.4 28.7 31.3 33.0 29.3 
			 Camden 24.5 18.8 16.9 18.5 19.6 18.6 20.3 20.2 
			 City of London(22) — — — — — — — — 
			 Croydon 23.2 22.3 22.4 22.6 24.8 25.2 24.8 25.3 
			 Ealing 21.8 23.8 23.4 26.3 26.5 27.7 29.4 27.7 
			 Enfield 23.5 24.9 24.1 25.7 26.8 28.4 30.9 30.2 
			 Greenwich 13.0 13.1 11.8 13.0 12.6 14.5 14.3 16.4 
			 Hackney 8.1 11.2 10.4 11.3 12.0 14.0 12.2 12.9 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 21.4 18.0 17.1 18.8 17.7 20.4 19.6 21.0 
			 Haringey 15.9 17.6 17.5 18.3 19.2 18.0 20.4 21.7 
			 Harrow 32.3 32.4 33.2 34.1 34.3 38.2 39.4 41.5 
			 Havering 16.5 16.2 15.0 16.9 17.3 19.0 15.5 16.8 
			 Hillingdon 19.8 20.2 22.0 21.4 22.1 23.5 27.0 25.3 
			 Hounslow 21.5 22.6 23.4 21.5 25.5 25.6 27.4 27.2 
			 Islington 9.5 12.3 13.5 12.7 16.1 16.3 16.1 15.0 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 26.0 22.1 18.8 18.7 18.9 19.2 19.9 17.5 
			 Kingston Upon Thames 27.5 27.8 27.5 26.1 28.6 31.5 32.6 30.0 
			 Lambeth 12.8 13.4 13.3 12.9 14.7 15.7 17.0 16.3 
			 Lewisham 14.5 16.3 14.2 13.7 16.1 15.6 16.7 18.6 
			 Merton 23.6 22.4 22.1 24.2 22.9 22.9 26.4 25.0 
			 Newham 11.6 14.8 15.4 16.9 18.1 20.1 19.2 20.1 
			 Redbridge 25.8 27.3 27.6 27.1 31.0 31.9 34.9 34.7 
			 Richmond Upon Thames 31.8 31.9 31.1 29.5 29.6 32.4 30.3 30.7 
			 Southwark 10.3 12.6 11.2 14.1 13.5 14.8 15.7 18.3 
			 Sutton 24.7 25.1 26.0 24.6 26.6 27.7 30.6 29.4 
			 Tower Hamlets 10.6 9.8 10.8 11.5 13.3 14.6 14.6 14.8 
			 Waltham Forest 14.4 18.7 17.4 18.5 20.1 21.0 21.6 22.8 
			 Wandsworth 15.7 20.8 18.8 21.0 21.7 23.9 23.6 23.4 
			 Westminster 13.9 17.0 16.7 16.2 14.3 16.2 17.0 14.5 
			 Total Greater London 19.6 20.7 20.3 20.6 21.8 23.0 23.9 23.6 
		
	
	(22) The effect of year-on-year fluctuations on a small population mean this method of calculating participation rates is unreliable for the City of London.

Truancy

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average truancy rate for secondary schools was in each year since 1997, (a) in England and (b) broken down by local education authority.

David Miliband: holding answer 25 May 2004
	The information requested is shown in the following table.
	The table shows, for each local education authority and England, the percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence from 1998 to present.
	
		Pupil absence in maintained secondary schools in England and local education authority
		
			   Percentage half days missed due to unauthorised absence 
			   1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 301 Barking and Dagenham 2.0 2.0 1.7 2.0 2.0 1.9 
			 302 Barnet 0.8 0.9 1.1 1.3 0.9 1.0 
			 370 Barnsley 1.9 2.0 1.9 1.3 1.6 1.4 
			 800 Bath and North East Somerset 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.6 1.1 0.8 
			 820 Bedfordshire 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 
			 303 Bexley 0.5 0.6 1.1 1.1 1.2 0.7 
			 330 Birmingham 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.5 
			 889 Blackburn with Darwen 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.2 1.3 1.3 
			 890 Blackpool 1.6 1.6 1.9 1.3 1.3 1.4 
			 350 Bolton 1.8 1.7 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.1 
			 837 Bournemouth 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.6 
			 867 Bracknell Forest 0.5 1.1 0.9 1.2 0.9 0.9 
			 380 Bradford 2.0 2.2 2.0 2.6 2.4 2.6 
			 304 Brent 0.7 0.9 1.0 0.9 0.7 0.9 
			 846 Brighton and Hove 1.1 0.9 1.0 1.4 1.2 1.5 
			 801 Bristol, City of 1.6 1.9 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.1 
			 305 Bromley 0.6 0.6 0.6 1.1 1.1 1.1 
			 825 Buckinghamshire 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.6 
			 351 Bury 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.7 
			 381 Calderdale 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8 
			 873 Cambridgeshire 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 
			 202 Camden 1.8 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.4 1.6 
			 875 Cheshire 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.9 0.9 0.9 
			 908 Cornwall 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.5 
			 331 Coventry 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.1 1.0 1.0 
			 306 Croydon 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.7 1.1 
			 909 Cumbria 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.8 
			 841 Darlington 1.6 1.3 1.6 1.0 1.1 1.1 
			 831 Derby City 0.8 0.8 0.8 1.1 1.5 1.3 
			 830 Derbyshire 1.1 1.0 0.9 1.0 1.0 1.0 
			 878 Devon 0.7 0.9 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0 
			 371 Doncaster 2.1 2.2 2.3 1.8 1.5 1.6 
			 835 Dorset 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.7 0.6 0.5 
			 332 Dudley 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.9 
			 840 Durham 1.5 1.3 1.1 0.8 0.7 0.7 
			 307 Ealing 1.4 1.2 1.2 1.0 1.0 0.9 
			 811 East Riding of Yorkshire 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.7 
			 845 East Sussex 1.3 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.3 
			 308 Enfield 1.0 1.4 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.9 
			 881 Essex 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.8 
			 390 Gateshead 1.6 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.0 1.0 
			 916 Gloucestershire 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 
			 203 Greenwich 2.4 2.2 1.9 2.3 2.5 2.4 
			 204 Hackney 2.2 2.6 2.2 3.1 2.6 2.1 
			 876 Halton 1.2 1.5 1.6 2.0 2.5 2.2 
			 205 Hammersmith and Fulham 2.8 2.6 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.7 
			 850 Hampshire 0.8 0.8 0.8 1.0 1.1 1.1 
			 309 Haringey 1.9 2.1 2.3 1.9 2.4 2.1 
			 310 Harrow 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.5 
			 805 Hartlepool 2.6 2.0 1.6 1.9 1.6 1.7 
			 311 Havering 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.7 0.6 0.6 
			 884 Herefordshire 0.6 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.8 
			 919 Hertfordshire 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.9 0.7 
			 312 Hillingdon 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.1 1.5 1.6 
			 313 Hounslow 1.0 1.2 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.0 
			 921 Isle of Wight 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 
			 420 Isles of Scilly 0.4 1.0 0.1 0.0 — — 
			 206 Islington 2.7 2.6 2.0 2.0 1.7 1.5 
			 207 Kensington and Chelsea 2.4 2.4 1.8 2.4 1.9 1.7 
			 886 Kent 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 
			 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 3.7 3.3 2.9 2.5 2.7 2.4 
			 314 Kingston upon Thames 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.6 0.6 0.5 
			 382 Kirklees 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.2 
			 340 Knowsley 3.1 2.8 3.1 3.1 3.1 2.8 
			 208 Lambeth 1.5 0.9 1.0 1.2 1.0 0.6 
			 888 Lancashire 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 
			 383 Leeds 1.9 1.9 2.0 1.8 1.9 1.9 
			 856 Leicester City 1.9 2.0 1.9 2.2 2.3 2.6 
			 855 Leicestershire 1.0 1.0 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.2 
			 209 Lewisham 2.6 2.5 2.9 3.5 2.7 2.4 
			 925 Lincolnshire 0.9 1.0 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.8 
			 341 Liverpool 2.1 1.6 1.6 1.9 1.8 1.7 
			 201 London, City of — — — — — — 
			 821 Luton 0.9 0.7 0.9 0.7 0.6 0.8 
			 352 Manchester 2.6 2.1 1.9 1.7 1.7 1.7 
			 887 Medway 0.9 1.0 1.0 0.7 0.6 0.8 
			 315 Merton 2.5 2.2 1.7 1.5 1.2 1.3 
			 806 Middlesbrough 1.7 1.3 1.6 1.0 1.0 1.0 
			 826 Milton Keynes 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.7 
			 391 Newcastle upon Tyne 1.1 1.0 1.3 1.2 1.7 1.3 
			 316 Newham 3.2 3.2 2.7 2.3 2.1 1.6 
			 926 Norfolk 0.9 0.9 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.0 
			 812 North East Lincolnshire 2.3 1.9 1.8 1.5 1.5 1.7 
			 813 North Lincolnshire 1.2 1.0 1.1 0.9 1.3 0.9 
			 802 North Somerset 1.1 0.9 0.7 0.8 1.1 1.1 
			 392 North Tyneside 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.9 
			 815 North Yorkshire 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6 
			 928 Northamptonshire 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 
			 929 Northumberland 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.6 0.4 0.3 
			 892 Nottingham City 3.9 3.0 2.9 3.1 3.1 2.4 
			 891 Nottinghamshire 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.3 1.5 
			 353 Oldham 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.1 1.4 1.6 
			 931 Oxfordshire 1.4 1.5 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.1 
			 874 Peterborough City 1.2 1.2 0.9 1.2 1.2 0.9 
			 879 Plymouth 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.6 
			 836 Poole 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 
			 851 Portsmouth 1.9 1.4 1.8 1.8 1.6 1.4 
			 870 Reading 1.4 1.2 0.8 1.1 1.2 2.0 
			 317 Redbridge 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.5 0.7 0.7 
			 807 Redcar and Cleveland 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.4 1.1 1.0 
			 318 Richmond upon Thames 1.0 1.5 1.8 2.5 2.5 2.1 
			 354 Rochdale 1.9 1.4 1.4 1.2 1.6 1.4 
			 372 Rotherham 1.5 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.6 1.3 
			 857 Rutland 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 
			 355 Salford 1.2 1.4 1.3 1.4 1.6 2.2 
			 333 Sandwell 1.8 1.6 1.5 1.1 1.7 1.6 
			 343 Sefton 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 
			 373 Sheffield 2.2 1.9 1.8 2.1 2.2 2.0 
			 893 Shropshire 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 
			 871 Slough 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.3 1.2 1.5 
			 334 Solihull 0.6 0.7 0.5 0.6 0.9 0.8 
			 933 Somerset 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6 
			 803 South Gloucestershire 1.1 1.1 1.4 1.2 1.0 1.2 
			 393 South Tyneside 0.3 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.7 
			 852 Southampton 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.3 1.2 
			 882 Southend-on-Sea 1.4 1.2 1.4 1.9 1.4 1.3 
			 210 Southwark 2.6 2.3 1.9 1.8 1.7 1.8 
			 342 St. Helens 0.5 0.6 1.0 0.9 0.9 1.1 
			 860 Staffordshire 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.7 
			 356 Stockport 1.3 1.2 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.8 
			 808 Stockton on Tees 0.8 0.9 0.6 0.4 0.5 0.7 
			 861 Stoke on Trent 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.6 1.6 1.5 
			 935 Suffolk 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.9 1.1 
			 394 Sunderland 1.2 1.2 1.0 0.9 1.0 0.9 
			 936 Surrey 0.4 0.5 0.7 1.0 1.0 1.0 
			 319 Sutton 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.9 0.7 
			 866 Swindon 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.7 
			 35 Tameside 1.2 1.3 1.1 1.2 1.0 0.4 
			 894 Telford and Wrekin 1.0 0.8 1.0 0.9 0.6 0.5 
			 883 Thurrock 1.5 1.3 1.3 1.1 0.9 1.6 
			 880 Torbay 0.7 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.3 1.5 
			 211 Tower Hamlets 2.8 2.2 2.5 2.6 2.4 2.0 
			 358 Trafford 0.7 1.1 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.6 
			 384 Wakefield 0.7 1.0 0.7 0.9 0.8 1.0 
			 335 Walsall 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.9 
			 320 Waltham Forest 2.3 1.8 1.4 2.0 1.7 1.4 
			 212 Wandsworth 1.7 1.2 0.8 0.7 1.3 1.1 
			 877 Warrington 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.7 
			 937 Warwickshire 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 
			 869 West Berkshire 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.6 
			 938 West Sussex 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.9 0.8 
			 213 Westminster, City of 3.2 3.9 3.1 2.4 1.8 1.6 
			 359 Wigan 1.3 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.7 0.6 
			 865 Wiltshire 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.6 
			 868 Windsor and Maidenhead 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 
			 344 Wirral 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 
			 872 Wokingham 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.6 1.0 0.6 
			 336 Wolverhampton 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.2 
			 885 Worcestershire 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.8 
			 816 York, City of 0.6 0.8 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.1 
			  England 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.1

Truancy

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children played truant during the last 12 months at schools in the London Borough of Wandsworth.

David Miliband: The information requested is as follows:
	
		Number of pupils that missed at least a half day due to unauthorised absence in schools in London Borough of Wandsworth Local Education Authority
		
			  Academic year (September to May) 2003 
		
		
			 Primary schools 2,831 
			 Secondary schools 2,322

UKeU

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to compensate universities who are owed money by UKeU.

Alan Johnson: UK eUniversities Worldwide (UKeU) is currently in discussions with its creditors, including some Higher Education institutions. The Higher Education Funding Council for England is monitoring the situation.

UKeU

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research he has undertaken into the failure of UKeU; and what future plans he has for the UKeU.

Alan Johnson: UK eUniversities Worldwide (UkeU) is being wound-down, as announced by the higher Education Funding Council for England on 18 June 2004. Some activities, notably the eChina Project and the e-Learning Research Centre will continue and have been transferred already from UkeU. I understand that the Higher Education Funding Council for England has asked the e-Learning Research Centre to examine the eUniversities experience and disseminate its findings throughout the sector.

University Teaching

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to encourage more graduates to undertake a career in university teaching.

Alan Johnson: The responsibility for recruiting university teaching staff lies with Higher Education Institutions, as the employers.
	However, the Department has implemented a 'Golden Hello' programme of funding to encourage new entrants into teaching shortage subjects, through the Higher Education Funding Council for England. Each Golden Hello is worth £9,000 over three years to an individual.

Vocational Course Drop-outs

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the drop-out rates on vocational courses were in (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003.

Ivan Lewis: Drop-out and retention rates are not available for all vocational courses undertaken in England. However, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) routinely collect and publish retention data for learners on LSC funded further education provision. Retention rates for 2001–01, 2001–02 and 2002–03 are shown in the LSC statistical first release, "Further Education and Work Based Learning for Young People—Learner Outcomes in England: 2002/03", available on the LSC website: http://www.lsc.gov.uk/National/Documents/SubjectListing/SectorData/StatisticalFirstReleases/sfr04.htm. A paper copy can be found in the Commons Library. Table 2 of this publication shows success, retention and achievement rates by level and type of qualification. The same publication also gives success rates for National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) studied through LSC funded work based learning for young people.